Out of Cash and IOU's
by stirringthesky
Summary: It is years later and the band has unfortunately broken up. Wen finds himself in a bar one night, wallowing in self pity, and a twist of fate changes everything.
1. Inebriated Fate

_Okay, I have been writing stories for a _long_ time, but I have never really had the guts to post one. Hopefully this will be sufficient enough for all of you. _

_I began writing this story while I was listening to this song called "Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis" by Brand New, and this idea just popped into my head. I guess that this story may be loosely—key word is loosely—based off of this song, so if you find any parallels between them, please know that I am not trying to take credit! Brand New is one of my all time favorite bands, and I would never ever want to do that to them. Also, if you have never heard the song before, and you have a listen, don't think that you will all of a sudden know what is going to happen next in the story; that is why I emphasized the word loosely!_

_Oh! And if you are wondering how old they are now, I am going for around 22.  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Lemonade Mouth or any beautiful song that Brand New has written._

* * *

With one or two, Wen got used to the atmosphere of the dingy, smoke ridden bar. He came alone that night, wanting to consume a shameful amount of alcohol and have time by himself, for once. He stared down at his almost empty Tom Collins and sighed at the prospect of having to order another ridiculously over priced drink. He wasn't even sure that his ego could take another blow from the bartender after she scoffed at him and told him that he must have had an "old soul" for ordering such an archaic drink. When he waved her down she merely laughed at him, hastily made his Tom Collins, and brought it over to him while flaunting he ever present cleavage. Her actions were no doubt for nothing more than receiving a better tip from the redhead.

He sighed again and put his face in his hands. Where had his life gone in the last few years? Ever since the band had broken up, he felt as though he had nothing left. He barely had enough money saved up to possibly further his education at some kind of university. There definitely wasn't a lot of room in his budget for ordering numerous amounts of Tom Collins', but he felt like he had earned a little break for himself; he did just have a really awful night. His girlfriend Lyla had finally left him after having had enough of his commitment and emotional issues, and to top it all off, he had relieved an angry text message from Stella that included a particularly nasty name for him and some bullshit about getting the band back together.

Like that would ever happen. They had ended things on an indefinitely sour note, and none of the other members could even find Olivia. He sighed yet again at that thought as he tried to reach for an ice cube to chew on since he could not bring himself to get any more alcohol without his wallet becoming completely devoid of any cash.

Olivia.

Oh, how horribly they had treated her. His biggest regret was not seeing the warning signs that had blatantly ensued in the blonde's actions. Her father had been released from jail soon after they graduated high school. When that had happened, something within her had snapped. She constantly had told the rest of the group that she was fine and that she did not need any help even after all of them had told her on numerous occasions that they would stick together no matter what. He and the other members ultimately decided not to push it with her, and that led to her snapping one day.

That day was still fresh in his mind. Charlie was having a hard time keeping the beat on their newest song, which led to Olivia flipping out and telling him that he needed to try harder. She then exploded and proceeded to tell everybody that she was sick of carrying the band and that they all needed to go screw themselves. Wen still cringed at the thought. He had never heard her be so full of hate before. She then began to cry and went on to say that no one even cared about her anymore and they were all self-centered assholes. She gave Wen one last earth shattering look and ran out the door and out of their lives. He tried to chase after her, but she was already gone. They decided to give her her space. What they didn't foresee, however, was the fact that she would not return any of their calls. She never seemed to be at her apartment anymore, and Wen was not all entirely sure if she still lived there.

Why was he thinking about this? This was only further putting him in a less then desirable mood. He felt like he was to blame. He felt overwhelmed with self-pity and hate that he did not care for her like he should have. Sure, she had exploded on them, but when he looked back at it, it was not out of the blue. She had been acting dreadful for months. She would not laugh at Wen's stupid jokes anymore, at Stella's outrageous outbursts, at Charlie and Mo's eternal dance of pretending not to care for one another. Yes, now that he looked back at the whole thing he found that she was so obviously not herself. She was not the carefree and fun loving woman that he had fallen in love with. Not that he ever had the balls to tell her, but he figured that she had not returned his feelings considering that it never had come up, not even after that God forsaken interview.

He knew that she was hurting and he just stood there and let her face it all alone. Of course she insisted that that was what she wanted, but he should have pushed her. He should have made her talk, made her open up. But no, he was too much of a pushover and gave her what she wanted, even though that was not what she needed.

Just when he was at the peak of his self deprecation, she felt his cell phone vibrating with a call. He pulled it out of his jean pocket and groaned when he saw that the caller id was Stella Yamada. He rolled his eyes and answered the call, "What do you want, Stella?"

He heard some kind of response, but he could not make it out. It was then he realized that he was in an obnoxiously loud bar, so he reluctantly stepped outside to take the call. When Stella had heard the background noise had seized, she began grilling him, "Holy shit Wen, where the hell are you? The Play Boy Mansion?"

Despite himself, he chuckled, "Oh yes, you see, that is why I really can't talk right now. I have like three bodacious blondes all over my ass. You understand."

She returned with her own laughter, "Well what I do understand, Wendell, is that you have not been returning _any _of my calls or texts, so I do think that those breast implanted bimbos can wait, don't you think? Who are you anyway, Olivia?"

His momentarily jovial mood immediately diminished, "That was a low blow, Stell."

Wen could practically feel her frown, "Look, I'm sorry Wen, but you have barely spoken to any of us in months. What the hell am I supposed to think?"

"I know Stell, but…but it's just that—"

"I know, Wen. I know that you are still hurting…but you don't have to face this all alone. Please, I can't lose another one of you."

His walls went up at that comment, not wanting anyone knowing of his seemingly obvious vulnerabilities, "I'm fine Stella," he stated stoically as it was back to business, "what do you want?"

She sighed at his unnecessary stubbornness considering she knew exactly what was wrong and she could read him like a book, "I think it's obvious."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, getting more and more aggravated as the conversation wore on, "Look, I don't know why you insist on this ridiculous idea of getting the band back together. It is _never _going to happen." He said through practically gritted teeth.

"Well that is not the only reason why I am calling." She stated defensively.

"Then what? What do you want?"

"I-I just wanted to see that you were still breathing. All of us are really worried about you Wen…" She sounded so desperate, so unlike herself. He was surprised, having never heard her sound so timid before.

"You don't need to worry about me," he grumbled sounding a little bit calmer, "I'm fine, seriously."

"Then how come none of us have seen you and you won't return my calls?"

"I've just been…busy." He stated simply.

"Busy." She retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. If he was going to play that game, she would too.

"Yeah, believe it or not, busy."

She sighed in defeat, clearly not wanting to push the subject considering how long it took her to just get him on the phone, "Alright, fine. Well since you are fine and all, I wanted to run an idea buy you."

There was an extended pause; he had a feeling he knew what this was about, "I'm listening."

"I think you already know, but we _have _been talking about getting the band back together." She said as carefully as she could.

"Yeah, I gathered that," Wen stated obviously, not at all surprised by her words, "and?"

Stella gulped and took a few seconds to compose herself, "Yeah, so…you game?"

He then reopened the subject that had been untouched for months, "Okay, but what about Olivia?"

There was another pause that made it seem like she was trying to think of what to say, "Well, it's not like we want to _forget _her, but we thought if she saw all of us back together, she would want to follow."

Wen was shocked; he couldn't believe it. Were they really that dense? "Do you really think that she would get that? Do you really think that she would understand that that would be our intention, and not just think that we were moving on from her?" He practically yelled; he was fuming.

"Well, no but I don't really know what else to do Wen! We have tried everything!" She defended.

"No, you haven't. We have not done _anything _to try to help her! I should have been there for her!" Wen screamed into the receiver.

"Wen, please, you can't blame the whole thing on yourself! There is no way that we could have seen that she was going to react that way." Stella insisted, trying to reassure him.

There were a few seconds that neither of them said anything, as if they were both trying to sink in her statement, but then he said those words that made them both shake with regret, "Well, we should have." He didn't even wait for her response before he pressed the end button, slid the phone back into his pocket, and angrily slammed the door of the bar to get back inside.

He clearly did not have enough to drink yet.

* * *

As Wen stormed back into the bar, he only had one thing on his mind: drink more. When he sat back at his normal seat, the bartender approached him with a smile.

"Tough night, red?"

Wen looked up at her, a little peeved at the nickname, "How could you tell?"

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned over the bar; her tight shirt dipped in all the right places to show off her chest, "Oh, I have a gift." She whispered seductively.

He wanted to smile. He wanted to respond with some kind of witty batter to keep the flirtatious repartee going even though he knew would never have a chance with the beautiful brunette. But he just couldn't.

Maybe towards the beginning of the night, or even a few minutes ago before that atrocious phone call with Stella would he of had the energy, the will. It just was not in him anymore. He looked down into his hands feeling ashamed while the bartender's eyebrows pinched together in confusion. In the moment just after he accepted defeat and decided to order another drink, he heard it.

That laughter.

The laughter he used to hear so often before that he didn't used to realize he took for granted all of the times it had hit his ear drums. The laughter that he would do anything thing to hear again, even just for a moment. But here it was, ringing in his ears, and despite all of the other noises around this pathetic excuse of a bar, it was clear as day. He looked around him to try to see if he was delusional or not, but it only started to sound louder and louder as time passed. The bartender had completely given up on his sudden case of cold shoulder, rolled her eyes, and moved on to someone else. Wen didn't care; he just wanted to find the source of this maddening laughter. Then, just as soon as it had started, it had stopped. He instantly frowned at the loss.

Well, it was official, he was going crazy, and somehow that did not surprise him. Then again, he did just have a few drinks; maybe he could blame it on that instead of on his slow decent into lunacy. Nothing more alcohol couldn't fix. He was convinced that the bartender had enough of him, but he really needed another drink more than ever.

Right when he was about to open his mouth to try to get the attention of the bartender again, a few people moved from the other side of the bar. Suddenly the owner of the ominous laughter became very visible to him.

The bartender saw that his mouth was half open and his hand was raised halfway into the air, so she approached him again to see if he needed anything; oh, the things she would do for tips.

"Do you need another drink, red?"

He did not seem to be listening at all, so she tried her luck again to get his attention, but to no avail. All he did was continue to stare into the same direction and gradually lowered his and closed his mouth.

Wen was in a completely different focus by the time he got up off of his bar stool. He went slowly when he first made his move to try and get closer to his destination. The whole time he made his way over to the other side of the bar, he was trying to convince himself that none of this was real. He was seeing things again, that had to be the only explanation. But why was it that the closer he moved, the more real it seemed? As he finally reached the other side of the room, he was in complete awe, standing in front of her.

He made his way to her somehow and she didn't even notice his presence. Since he wanted to himself to be known, he wanted to seem suave and carefully calculate the perfect words that would impress her. This did not go as smoothly, however, as his blood alcohol content levels were not friendly to him, and he stumbled over his words, "O-Olivia? Is it you?" As soon as it blatantly came out, he instantly regretted it. Well that must have sounded stupid. Just when he was about to rethink his word choice, she finally turned to him.

The smile that she had on for the guy she was talking to completely vanished; her eyes dulled and her brows furrowed. She didn't say anything for a few seconds so the guy she was flirting with took that as initiative to speak for her, "this guy bothering you?" He asked as he stood up; he was more stout and muscular then Wen was, but Wen had a few inches on him in height. Wen took that as a small victory. Olivia still did not falter her gaze from Wen's. Olivia's self-titled body guard still did not understand what was going on, but he decided to change his approach and instead faced the redhead, "you gotta problem buddy? I believe Olive and I were trying to have a conversation here. Would you mind?"

What an idiot. He couldn't even get her name right. She could do so much better than this bag of useless muscles.

Olivia blinked a couple times and finally found her voice, "Wen?"

It only took that one syllable of his name for his insides to melt into goo and form an absolutely goofy grin on his face. The alcohol was hitting him harder then he thought, "Hey."

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked drunkenly. She was clearly inebriated.

"I could ask you the same question." He said as soberly as he could. He wanted to seem composed.

"Well I thought that seemed obvious, right?" she questioned in her palpable stupor.

The conclusion was not obvious to Wen; however, he was thoroughly confused. He tried searching for an answer in her alcohol laden eyes. Her makeup was slightly smudged, but Wen still found her to be a vision, "Wha…what?" he questioned lamely.

She slowly smiled at his obvious ignorance, and threw her arms up in the air enthusiastically, "It's ladies night; all the girls drink for free!" She practically screamed, and despite the loudness of the bar, all of the women still seemed to hear her and gave a unanimous "Woo!"

After all the woman had completed their rejoicing, Olivia had resorted to giggling and trying to push her hair out of her face while still holding her martini. At this, Wen finally strode the two spaces that separated them and assisted in the taming of her hair. He tucked the remaining tresses behind her ears. When he was finished, his hand lingered on her check before it clumsily dropped to his side. He began to wear another ridiculous grin; Olivia matched his with one of her own while she took a generous sip of her drink. He looked down at her glass and wondered if that guy she was flirting with had ordered it for her. Oh no, he realized, that the other guy had completely fallen out of his radar in just a matter of seconds. Just as the thought elapsed in his brain, he heard a throat clearing. He came to find that Olivia was far too distracting for his own good.

They both turned slowly to the forgotten stranger. His aggression was nearly tangible, "Are you serious blondie? You're with him?"

Despite the obvious resentment very directed towards him, Wen felt a sense of pride that this guy would think that someone like Olivia would be with him. His ego was immediately smashed by her next comment, "What? No! Don't be ridiculous, Jason! Wen is just…he's just an old friend." She explained, stuttering over her words. Wen was clearly disappointed.

"Jesus Christ," exclaimed the man apparently named Jason as he made to leave, "what does a guy have to do to get laid around here? I knew you were easy, but you move on just like that?" He turned around to walk on to possibly find another girl to reap on, but Wen stopped him by tapping him on the shoulder. He sighed, clearly exacerbated, and turned around, "What do you want? You can have her…I bet she is riddled with all sorts of diseases anyway."

If Wen wasn't already fuming, that really set him off. He responded with punching the guy as hard as he could in the nose. It seemed like a win for him until he realized how much his hand began to throb, and then how much it hurt when a fist made contact with his right eye; the force throwing him backwards onto the ground.

When Wen looked up at his attacker, he found that the man was a lot more intimidating from the floor. His dull brown eyes were looking down at him menacingly, "You just dug your own grave pal." Wen was sure that he was going to meet his own demise, so he closed his eyes. Surprised that he was not feeling any pain and that all of his limbs were still intact, he squinted his eyes open to find that the humongous bouncer had come over and restrained his attacker.

He looked around him to find that Olivia was just standing in the same place with her hand over her mouth, her expression that of shock. His attention went back to the giant black bouncer who was still holding back Olivia's former conquest, now noticing that Jason's nose was profusely bleeding. Well, at least he had that. Absolutely humiliated, Wen slowly made it back to his feet on wobbly legs. His head pounded, his ears ringed, and his eye socket felt like someone had hit it repeatedly with a hammer. Not just any hammer, either, it was like Thor himself had descended from the heavens and whacked Wen over the head with the noxious Mjölnir. He probably _looked _like a horrible mess, too. Just as he felt he was getting his composure back, he heard yelling somewhere in the back of his senses; he decided to pay more attention to it. The bouncer was screaming at Jason, "I have already had to warn you about fighting in my bar, and here you go starting another one!" He exclaimed; he certainly was frightening with his broad muscular shoulders and deep bass like voice.

"But I didn't start it this time! I swear! It was him!" Jason yelled as he pointed at Wen as the initiator. The bouncer gave Wen the once over and looked back at Jason, clearly giving him a look that said: really?

"Alright, sure sure. And I am a dainty fairy princess. Come on, I am kicking you out." The bouncer threatened as he began to escort Jason outside.

"Wait! Listen to me! I swear it wasn't me this time! It was that redhead guy over there that threw the first punch!" he yelled desperately; it seemed like he was trying to convince everyone.

The bouncer came to a stop as he laughed, "you really expect me to believe that _that _guy over there started this?" he mocked as he pointed a gargantuan finger at Wen.

Another low blow onto his ego; he wasn't that scrawny, was he? Right when he was about to defend himself, the brunette bartender shouted from her place, "its true, Gerald. I saw the whole thing." She said as she threw a towel over her shoulder. Wen looked over at her, feeling the ultimate amount of betrayal. Well, see if he is ever giving her any drunken tips again, especially not tonight.

Gerald looked at the bartender and nodded. Then he looked back over at Wen with a confused expression; he shrugged his shoulders "Well if the lady says it's true, then it is true…you're out too buddy." He decided as he grabbed Wen's shoulder so hard that he was sure that he shattered something. As he was being yanked out of the bar, it took him a few moments to realize what was going on.

"Wait! Hey! Hold on a second! Don't I even get to explain myself?" Wen asked desperately. Even to him that sounded pathetic.

Gerald looked down at him with somewhat of a grin on his face, "Nope." He stated simply. Wen realized that he probably deals with inebriated people like him all the time. Gerald did not care at all about what he had to say; he had probably heard it a million times before in a million different ways. There is no way that he cared that Wen had finally been reunited with the woman that he has been in love with since he was sixteen. Years of being a bouncer at a rowdy bar has probably calloused him from being sympathetic; to him, Wen was just another disorderly drunkard causing misconduct. He couldn't really blame him for that. It was kind of ironic in a way; Wen never pictured himself as being _that _guy.

The bouncer slammed the door in their faces, shutting off all of the warmth and light that was illuminating the sidewalk. Wen looked over to his right to see Jason laughing as he walked away. This guy is such a tool, "You think this is funny?" Wen yelled at the back of his head.

Jason stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly, "Yeah, I kind of do. You cock block me, and so I got to cock block you," he said proudly as he let out a sleazy smile; he still had dry blood caked under his nostrils, "looks like neither of us are getting laid tonight, red." He pointed out with the smuggest look on his face. Wen was about to say something, but it was no use; he had already turned on his heel and walked away.

There really was no use to start another fight even though he was so angry that he couldn't see straight. Starting another fight would not solve anything. Jason was right, however, Wen kind of did cock block him out of nowhere. But this was Olivia! How could he of not approached her, and tell her how much he missed her and wanted to be with her? This was not just an average hot girl at a bar. Olivia was more important than any stupid petty fights that he got himself into.

It was then when his dulled senses finally realized that Olivia was not around him anymore. She must have not followed him out of the bar. A new wave of sadness and rage had washed over him. He leaned against the wall of the bar, rubbing his face with his hands. The last look that he saw on her face was that of bewilderment and probably disappointment. What the hell was he thinking, starting a fight like that? She probably wants nothing to do with him anymore.

He looked up at the slow, dimly lit street and sighed deeply. Not really knowing what else to do, Wen pushed himself off of the brick wall and put his hands in his pockets. He was definitely way too drunk to drive, so he deciphered that he was going to have to walk home. Oh well, the long walk would be a good way to sort out all of his self deprecating thoughts.

And so, he turned around and walked away, in more ways than one.

* * *

_Okay, okay. I know what you are thinking; that was really dark. The characters seem a little out of place and maybe a little OC, but that is what I was going for. These are the older, angstier versions of these characters. Now, bear with me! I have a vision of where I want this story to go, and this is the route it is taking right now. If you really don't like the morose tone, then either be patient, or don't read it I guess. I hope the latter is not the case though…_

_Anyway…I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and reviews would make my heart happy! :)_


	2. Desperate Desires

_I was so determined to finish this last night that I didn't allow myself to do anything else. I mean, who really needs to do impending essays for American Literature anyway?_

_Disclaimer: do you honestly think I own any of this? Well, I don't._

* * *

As Wen was trying to remember if he had any booze at his house, he realized that he was an idiot. He was idiot that never really had any initiative to get what he wanted. Over the last few years, not only had his life gone in a downwards spiral, but he had completely lost his motivation, his spark. His willingness to do anything anymore was now purely out of routine. He had a few jobs here and there, but of course nothing was very permanent.

Not anymore.

Nevertheless, Wen was sick of it. He was sick of feeling so helpless and insecure. He was sick of feeling like he was a burnout whose life peaked at the age of twenty. He needed to change.

But as he walked down the streets that seemed so lonely that not even the occasional homeless person wanted to inhabit them, he realized something. He _had_ changed. He had changed so much even in the last few years, and he was not sure if it was for the better. Emerging into adulthood did not seem like it was a smooth transition for Wen. Was he just growing older and not wiser?

Sure, he had experienced new things; things that he had regretted and things that he cherished. This was the time in his life where he was really supposed to be finding out who he truly was. Not that this was a surprise to him because it seemed pretty status quo for people his age. But as his peers were going off to college and experiencing normal things for people in their early twenties, he was staying here, only growing more and more hollow by the day, slowly wasting away…

_Fuck_, he was depressing himself; a common theme of the evening. Maybe he was thinking too much. Maybe he needed another drink. Wen sighed and rubbed his hands together, trying to keep warm. It was pretty cold out that night. He looked around him and found that he was not really sure where he was; his thoughts were too distracting for proper navigation, and that was saying something while under the influence.

Wen looked up and saw that he had stumbled across another bar. He figured, what the hell? He only wanted one or two more drinks.

* * *

While Wen sat down at the bar, the bartender approached him and asked what he wanted. Wen gave him his drink order, and he gave him a pointed look.

"You alright buddy?" he asked with sincere concern, "you're not looking too hot."

Wen had forgotten that he was just in a bar fight with that dumb fuck Jason, and he probably had some kind of black eye. His hand went to feel the sensitive area and he found that it was quite painful to the touch. He hadn't had a black eye since high school when his dad had dropped that picture frame on his face. Good times.

Wen shrugged it off, "I'm fine."

The bartender gave him another look of worry and crossed his arms, "Tell you what, why don't you go wash off in the bathroom, and I will have your drink ready by the time you get out. You look a lot worse than you probably feel." He motioned his head towards the mirror that lined the back of the bar where all the alcohol was.

Wen's gaze followed the bartender's to the mirror and looked at himself in horror. He really did look like shit with his disheveled hair and bruised eye. There was no more need for convincing after that, "Alright." Wen said dejectedly as he got off his stool and fulfilled the bartender's order.

The smell of piss and booze stung Wen's nostrils as he pushed opened the door. When he looked at himself in the mirror of the dimly lit bathroom, he hardly recognized his own face. Not really wanting to dwell too long on the matter, he turned on the faucet and braced himself on the sink. For some reason he stayed like that for a few moments before he splashed the refreshing water on his face and hair. He had to be careful of his eye, but it was overall a surprisingly pleasant experience. He still did not want to think about the nights preceding events.

He slowly meandered over to his barstool to find that his drink sitting in front of him.

"So uh, how did you get that shiner? Get kicked out of another bar somewhere?" The bartender asked. Wen looked up at him. He was drying a glass with a towel with a scowl on his face. Wen never knew that one could dry a glass with so much fierce determination.

The man standing before him had a bald head and a beer belly. Oddly enough, Wen did think that he had a friendly enough demeanor to have a stereotypical heart to heart with the guy.

He looked at the bartender with almost a look of pain. He then laughed at the irony as he grabbed his drink, "Yeah actually, I did."

The man smiled and put down his glass, "Let me guess," he said as his hand was raised to the stubble on his chin, "over a girl?"

Wen raised his glass in the air as if it was a triumph, "Isn't it always?"

"Well just as long as you don't bring that shit into my bar, you're cool with me. The name's Billy by the way." He said with an extended hand.

Wen took put down his drink and took it, "Wen."

Billy had to help someone at the other end of the bar for a moment, and then came back to Wen and began wiping the table with another towel.

"So tell me about this girl, Wen." He asked.

Wen did not even know where to start, "She's…she's beautiful. Smart. Sexy. Talented. Way out of my league." He admitted as he downed a good portion of his drink.

"Aren't they all?"

"Yeah, I suppose they are."

"Alright, why aren't you with her now?" He asked as he picked up after the people who had just left.

"Because I was an idiot."

"If women went up and left every man who was an idiot, there would be no relationships at all. You seem like a decent fella."

Wen sighed and put his face in his hands, "She deserves better than me."

A couple of girls came in and sat next to Wen. Billy walked up to them and made a couple of cranberry and vodka's for them. Billy poked fun at them and told them that their choice of alcohol was such a chick drink. They all laughed, and all of the cheerfulness was making Wen feel even more depressed. One of the girls looked over at Wen and saw his eye.

"Oh my God! What happened to you?" She asked with concern, touching his arm.

Wen was about to answer in quite a rude way when Billy spoke up for him, "Oh, this guy just got in a bar fight defending a woman's honor."

Both of the girls gasped; the one who touched his arm spoke up, "Oh, that is just so romantic!"

Wen actually looked up at her in surprise. She was a pretty brunette with ridiculously curly hair, "Really?"

"Of course it is. How often does that really happen anymore? It's like something from a movie!" Said the brunette's friend. She had darker skin, big brown eyes, and straight black hair, "Where is she now?"

Wen scoffed, shook his glass around, and looked down, "I am sure she wants nothing to do with me."

"Oh come on now! What girl wouldn't want a man who punches someone for them?" Asked the brunette.

Wen was thinking that these girls themselves had stepped out a movie with all of their clichéd comments about what girls like.

"It's no use. I have been trying to tell him the same thing." Billy said as he grabbed Wen's drink to refill it.

Wen looked up at Billy in surprise, "Oh no no. I don't know if I should buy anymore."

Billy waved him off, "It's on the house."

He was astonished at the man's generosity, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Billy shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed the gin and poured it into the glass, "I can sense a kind hearted soul when I see one. Believe me, I have been a bartender for a long long time now. I have a good sense of people; I can tell you're a good guy."

Wen didn't know how to feel about that, "I am pretty sure girls don't like 'good guys' anymore."

The black haired girl scoffed and spoke out, "Sure, that is what some girls may like, they may even go through an asshole faze, but at the end of the day, they would so much rather have someone who would appreciate them."

Billy handed Wen his drink. Wen accepted it, furrowed his eyebrows, and thought about the nights events. Olivia seemed so much happier when she was talking to Jason then to him. Maybe Olivia was just into assholes right now, "Well, I guess that it's not my time yet," he said as he drank some of his beverage and turned to the girls, "unless you think that I should become an asshole."

Both girls looked at him with widened eyes and shocked faces, "No!" They said in unison.

Wen laughed and was actually starting to feel better. He sometimes loved the camaraderie that simply came with people just talking at a bar.

"And besides," said the brunette, "if you really were a creep, and didn't have this other chick on your mind, wouldn't you be totally be trying to hit on us?"

That thought hadn't even occurred to Wen. He was pretty sure that even if he wasn't drunk, he would still find both of them to be attractive. So much for being a bad boy, "Dammit. You're right," he said as he leaned in closer to the duo, "can I offer you ladies a cool beverage?"

They both burst out into laughter, even Billy joined in, "That's your line? That's what you use to try and get girls?" The black haired one asked. Wen realized that she reminded him a bit of Stella with all of her outspokenness.

Wen hid his face in shame, "I am such a douche bag, aren't I?"

"No! You're adorable!" The brunette giggled, "And you totally love this chick, don't you?"

Wen tried to look angry, but honestly he couldn't; they really knew how to cheer a guy up, "Shut up!"

"Don't listen to them Wen," he said as he temporarily looked up at the door, "they are just trying to get a rise out of you…and besides, I don't think you'll have to look too far anymore." He said with a devious smile.

Wen looked up at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Whatever Billy's answer was for Wen was interrupted.

"Wen?" A soft spoken voice said behind him. He was in denial about who it was. It couldn't be, could it?

Sure enough, as Wen turned around he was met with the beautiful blonde of his dreams for the second time that night, "O-Olivia! What are you doing here?" He questioned, stumbling over his words. The girls next to him started giggling of course. He shot them a murderous glare and turned back to Olivia, "I mean, I just thought since I…since you—"

"Wen stop," she said as she held up a hand to silence him, "_I _am sorry. I should have gone after you when that bouncer kicked you out, but I was just so…so shocked. I mean, you're a lover not a fighter after all, right?"

Wen smiled and thought that he would fight off anyone when it came to Olivia, "So how did you find me here?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and slid out of her coat while stumbling a little bit, "I figured that you would have either walked home or gone to another bar, so thought I would try a couple bars before I gave up." She seemed a little bit more composed then before, but still a bit tipsy.

Wen pretended to be hurt, "You figured I'd be here?"

All Olivia did at first was smile, "Buy me a drink?"

* * *

About five or six drinks and a couple hours later, Wen was having a hard time seeing straight. He could not believe he was still alive and had not succumb to alcohol poisoning. He definitely did not need anymore, and neither did Olivia. She was leaning on him while he was trying to tell her why he punched Jason.

"How could I not Liv? He was calling you a whore!" He exclaimed while trying to keep his balance.

The girls next to him were laughing again. Wen had found out that they were both Poli Sci majors, and the brunette's name was Amanda and the black haired one was Aaliyah. They had been making fun of Wen all night.

"Oh my God Aaliyah! They are so cute!" Amanda squeaked to her friend.

"I knoooow! Why don't they just get married right now!" Aaliyah screeched nearly falling off her chair. Wen was pretty sure that they had too much to drink was well.

"Do you two ever shut up?" Yelled at them half jokingly, half serious.

All they did was laugh more, Olivia joining them. Wen looked at her as if she had betrayed him, "You too?"

"Oh lighten up Wenikins! We are just having a bit of fun. We are now trying to see ending of this beautiful fairytale." Amanda yelled at him while pointing an accusing finger.

Wen snorted and looked at them with confusion, "Who has ever heard of a fairytale from a bar?"

Amanda raised her arms in the air, "The twenty first century!"

Olivia smacked him and giggled, "Amanda is right Wen! Lighten up!"

Again, Wen looked at her in astonishment, "And you're encouraging them!"

Billy walked over to them with a knowing look on his face, "You lot had about enough?"

Wen was feeling way too good for this night to end. Nonetheless, he had to reluctantly pull out his wallet. The sight was nothing to be proud off. It was sad, but true: out of cash and IOU's.

The girls had a different idea; however, they all seemed to be on the same wavelength.

"Never!" Amanda yelled as Aaliyah and Olivia agreed.

Wen glared at Olivia. What he found, however, was a more glorious sight then he had seen in ages. Olivia was smiling, actually and genuinely smiling like she used to. Wen did not know if it was him or the alcohol that was making this possible, but he did not care as long as it made her happy, "I feel like it's been forever since I have seen you smile." He said to her without even thinking.

She turned to him and leaned in so close that he swore she was going to kiss him. He felt her warm breath on his lips. He wanted nothing more than to just close the distance between them, but something held him back. Oh wait, that was just him not having any balls again. Despite him not having any courage, she still smiled at him.

"I haven't had much reason to smile lately." She said as ambiguously as she could. Well what the hell was that supposed to mean?

"I-I…" Wen said as he was trying to process what she was saying.

"You think too much," she whispered as she leaned away from Wen, "so you uh, want to get out of here?"

Wen could not hide his very obvious smile; he of course never wanted something so bad in his life, but he didn't want to seem too eager, "Ms. White, are you asking me to come back to your place?"

Amanda started to laugh with Aaliyah, "She is just as bad as you are!"

Wen glared at them for what felt like the millionth time that night. At least it was better than creepy guys hitting on Olivia, "You guys never get old."

They said their goodbyes to everyone and Wen promised Billy that he would be back to empty out his wallet at some point in the future, but as he stood up to leave, Aaliyah grabbed his arm. She pulled him close to both her and Amanda's faces. She whispered in his ear, "Love her right you dork. There aren't enough decent guys like you to go around." He smiled at her back handed compliment, and put his arms around both their shoulders.

"Thank you so much ladies. I don't really know why, but you have been great to me, even if you are extremely annoying…but you honestly did make me feel better."

Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed, "Oh don't get all mushy on us," she said as Wen stood up right again, "now go and get your woman."

Wen smiled at them one last time, "Thank you." He then turned around and led Olivia out of the bar.

Aaliyah yelled at them that they wanted to be invited to their wedding as the door was closing.

Olivia giggled and said that her place was not that far from where they were, so they could just walk home because they were in no state to drive. Considering how cold it was he was a little concerned, but they were so drunk he figured that it didn't really matter that much.

* * *

As they were walking among the darkened streets, Wen still had a burning question on his mind, "Olivia?"

When she heard him, she was broken from her temporary trance from staring at the floor, "Yes?"

"Why do you let guys like Jason buy you drinks?" Wen asked even though he felt ridiculous and jealous.

To his surprise, Olivia began to laugh. Wen then felt very self conscious and wondered what in the hell could be so funny, "What?"

"Jason didn't buy me a drink." She said as she held her hand up to her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"He didn't? But then why was he sitting there hitting on you? I don't—"

"Wen! Honestly, did you forget? It was ladies night! All my drinks were free." She pointed out as she linked her arms with Wen's.

"Oh…right…ladies night." Wen said, trying to be reassured. Even though she was laughing off his question, he couldn't help but feel like she still didn't understand the gravity of his question, and maybe she did let guys like Jason did buy her drinks on nights when they weren't free.

* * *

The two drunken adults stumbled into Olivia's apartment giggling about something that they could not even remember. Wen's head was hazy as he took in his surroundings; he hadn't been there in years, "I didn't know that you still lived here."

She dropped her purse on the ground and peeled off her coat, throwing it haphazardly behind her, "Well I am like...never here." She admitted as she bounded into the kitchen. Wen stood there awkwardly waiting for her, and as he see-sawed on his feet in the middle of her living room, it was like he finally fazed out of his stupor realized where he was.

In Olivia White's apartment.

Alone.

And drunk.

Wen suddenly felt very apprehensive and started to perspire all over; he unzipped his jacket and placed it on her couch. How could he have been so stupid? Why did he think that it was a good idea to get completely hammered, and then accompany Olivia to her home? Now he was here, and he could barely formulate a coherent sentence together. He was going to make an ass of himself, he just knew it. Well, everything does seem like a good idea when you're drunk, and Olivia looked so pretty tonight. He grinned like an idiot when he thought of her and her smiling face. Wen never thought he would see that again.

"Wendell!" Olivia yelled from the kitchen, breaking Wen from his fleeting thoughts.

"What," he yelled back as he walked towards the kitchen, "you know I hate my full name, Liv." He urged as he approached the doorway.

After sauntering over to the door frame, she leaned against it seductively. The blonde seemed barely conscious while her eyes were fighting sleep. She had a bottle of wine in her hand, "I thought it would get your attention," she said as she raised the bottle up to his line of vision, "would you like a glass?"

He thought that her smile was so adorable. Wen could not help but stare at her dimples and endearing expression. If she'd let him have his way he swore he'd tear her apart. No wait, that was an awful thing to think; he wanted more than that from her. He honestly needed to stifle his desperate desires and unadmirable plans…but she looks so beautiful…

She was still brandishing the bottle in front of his face only with a bit more vigor. Wen shook his head and realized that he had lost himself.

Wait. Did she actually want to have _more_? The thought of consuming anymore alcohol at this point actually made Wen feel sick, "Haven't you had enough?"

Her smile instantly fell and her brows furrowed, "What are you trying to say?"

Wen's own brows raised in surprise, "N-nothing! I was just saying that we _did _just have a lot to drink."

"Ugh, whatever." She said curtly as she slammed the bottle on the counter.

"What's wrong Liv?"

She looked up at him with a mix of trepidation and anger, "I-I am just…I am just like him." The last part of her confession was barely a whisper as her gaze met the floor.

"What?" he asked, confused. When she did not answer him, he raised her chin with a finger, forcing her to look up at him. She looked scared; it was like she was afraid that Wen all of a sudden knew a deep dark secret about her.

She pulled away and took a couple steps backwards, "Nothing…I didn't say anything." She then broke into a run in the other direction. Wen instantly followed her as she made it to her bedroom, calling after her.

"What do you mean, you're just like him? Olivia, please." He yelled to her as she almost slammed the door in his face.

"Stop it, Wen!" she yelled as her feeble attempts at closing the door continued, "I don't want to be around you anymore."

Even in his less than sober state, that hurt. He sincerely hoped that that was just the alcohol talking. In that moment, it was like she also realized her own offensive words and immediately ceased her stronghold at the door. Within a few moments, Wen heard sobs coming from inside of her room while he slowly swung the door open. She was sitting on the edge of her bed with her face in her hands crying; she looked so small. Wen approached her with much caution. He met her half way, kneeled on the floor next to her, and gradually removed her hands. She sniffled a couple times at looked at their joint hands in her lap. Wen only looked at her face just waiting for her to finally meet his eyes. Tear stains streaked her cheeks.

She looked up at him and sniffled again. Her expression changed as she continued to gaze at him; this stare was full of a different emotion. As Wen was trying to decipher what it could possibly mean, Olivia grabbed his face with her hands and captured his mouth with her own.

Wen's eyes widened in shock at first, but then he melted into the kiss realizing that he never wanted something so bad in his life. How long had he fantasized about this moment? It seemed like it had been forever at this point, but he was thinking too much as her tongue flicked against his bottom lip. Damn, she was totally taking charge of this whole operation. Why couldn't he be more assertive? He decided at that moment that he needed to take charge and whisk her off her drunken feet.

Wen stood up and lifted Olivia by her waist, and lay her down on the mattress without even breaking the kiss. He smugly thought that his gesture was rather impressive, and she responded rambunctiously by wrapping her arms around his neck, scratching violently at his scalp. Their mouths dueled as Wen was contemplating if this was all really happening or not; it was all so surreal. He then found that he didn't care once Olivia began to reach for his shirt. He lifted himself up for a moment before he ripped off his shirt with ease, and then planted himself on top of her once more. His tongue probably tasted of gin and forgotten morals.

His right hand greedily traveled down her body and found the hem of her dress and slowly raised the fabric up her thigh, caressing the smooth skin. Not really knowing where his boundaries were, he took his steps very gradually until Olivia stopped him. Just when he thought he had gone too far, she surprised him.

She pushed him off of her and slowly got up on her knees, kneeling next to him. She grinned at him deviously as she went in to kiss him again. Wen was thrilled at the contact, but he needed more; more with his alcohol clouded brain. He almost violently grabbed the bottom of her dress and removed it, raising it above her head, only momentarily unlocking their mouths, which were reunited immediately after her clothes were removed. He grabbed the back of her neck after sometime, and began sucking and biting on the sensitive skin; he received heavy breathing from her in return, which only added to his arousal more. At which point he didn't think he could be anymore turned on, he felt a rushed pair of hands fumbling with his belt buckle.

Wen pulled away and grinned at her nervously while she kept giving him that same seductive look that made his insides melt; he felt like such a chick. Then everything seemed to slow down for a few moments as she removed his pants and he pushed her back down on the bed. He captured her lips again at full force. This kiss seemed so much more desperate and full of rage. It took him a couple of minutes to even realize that he had begun to move his hips against her, in which she reciprocated the same motion.

As he continued to ravage her, it was like the desperation of the whole act had finally gotten to him. Were they only two messed up people using each other to just feel something? Or were these genuine feelings? How did she actually feel about him? His thoughts were momentarily deterred while she rolled him over and straddled him.

Her tugging at his hair and breathing huskily on top of him was by far the hottest thing that had ever happened to Wen. This exact scene had been played so many times in his head. However, as he began to assault her mouth again, his jarring thoughts would not leave him alone. Why was he overanalyzing this? Why couldn't he just take the situation for what it was?

Because he found that no matter how badly he wanted this, no matter how long he dreamed about it, it all felt so wrong. This felt so wrong, and he was not himself; Olivia wasn't either. He was going to hate himself for this.

He stopped kissing her and pushed her up by her shoulders, "Wait," he almost pleaded as they were both breathing heavily. She looked at him confused expression with her brows knitted downwards.

"What?" she asked with a terse tone to her voice.

It was a valid question. One does not exactly stop such an act when they had come so close, especially not the _guy_, but Wen had decided that this was the right thing to do. How was he supposed to explain it to her? How was he supposed to say that he cares about her so much and didn't want it to happen like this?

"Don't you…you know…want to be sober for this?" He asked unconfidently.

She nearly laughed and rolled her eyes, "Sober for what?"

God, he hated feeling so uneasy and defenseless. He cleared his throat and began to rub his palms on her thighs, not wanting to meet her gaze, "For…" he was at a loss for words.

"This isn't my first time Wen." She stated as she crossed her arms, fierce brown eyes drilling holes into him.

Wen scratched the back of his head, regretting not thinking of a better speech before he stopped her; he cleared his throat again, "I know, I mean I don't actually know that…this isn't my first time either…but"

"But what?" she asked, growing more and more impatient by the moment.

"But this is _our_ first time." It was official. Wen had grown a vagina.

"Are you serious?" Olivia scoffed.

"Well I don't know about you, but this is something that I—"

"I mean, isn't this what guys want?" She inquired; the acid lost from her voice.

Wen gave her his own confused expression, "What? No!" He defended. He grasped that this had nothing to do with their sobriety anymore. What kind of guys had she been with? What kind of assholes would only care about her body like that? It enraged him just to think about it. He then guessed that it was not surprising that there were douche bags out there that would have loved to have take advantage of such a sweet and beautiful girl like Olivia. No wonder she was so unlike herself. All this emotion and alcohol was making his brain hurt, "Liv, what are you talking about?"

She scoffed again and looked at him with an expression that was filled with condemnation, "Oh come on, don't pretend that this wasn't what you were thinking about all night, especially when I took you back here."

"So this is what you were hoping was going to happen?" Wen cut in, absolutely shocked.

"Don't lie to me Wen! You can't actually expect me to believe that—" Whatever insulting response she had for him was cut off by her looking nauseous for a few seconds followed by vomiting all over the bed and nearly missing Wen, "Oh my God." She said as she looked like she was about to be sick again; she promptly got off of Wen and ran into the bathroom to presumably continue her hurling in a more appropriate area.

The only thing that got Wen moving off of the bed was the potentiality of getting vomit on him. He had so many things to process at the moment, but this was not the time to get philosophical. He ripped the sheet of the bed so in wouldn't continue to seep into the bed. Spending too many nights on sheets that reeked of sick had taught him well.

There were more pressing matters then proper bed care; however, he decided that he should find his way to the bathroom. Finding her on the floor hunched over the toilet was not a reassuring sight, but it was not at all surprising. He kneeled on the floor next to her and began to rub her back and pulled her hair away from her face.

He supposed that she would be grateful at his chivalry, but her reaction was quite the opposite, "Get out of here Wen! I don't want you to see me like this!" She exclaimed. It sounded like she had been crying again.

Her obvious ploy to get him to leave did not work, however, as he just continued to rub her back. Olivia began to heave again, and he started to whisper soothing things into her ear.

"You're so beautiful."

"It's okay; don't feel bad, everyone gets sick."

"You're so lovely."

"You're going to get through this."

He sincerely hoped that his words weren't just empty phrases.

Just as Wen thought she would have nothing left to throw up, she shuttered and fell back into his arms, breathing heavily. She looked so fragile and vulnerable; much like the Olivia that he used to know. She astonishingly did not get much vomit in her hair, so he helped her up, led her to the sink, and tried his best to rinse out the remaining sick. She seemed so out of it, like she was about to black out. Wen figured that he did not have much more time before she actually passed out.

He picked her up bridal style, walked her to her living room, and laid her down on her couch for the time being. As he went to clean up the bathroom and retrieve the sheets, he realized that he did not feel nearly as drunk as he did before. He shrugged his shoulders and moved on; helping out someone drunker than he always sobered him up a bit. After finding Olivia's washer, he dumped the soiled sheets in and started the cycle on heavy duty, wanting to make sure they were going to be clean. He found new sheets in her linen closet next to her washer, and made the bed with a new found sense of determination. Once he was finished, he went to Olivia to carry her back to her bed. He didn't even want to check the time as it was probably some kind of God awful hour.

Wen lied awake in bed for a while just trying to process all of the nights events over and over again in his head. He fell asleep while stroking Olivia's still damp hair and whispering to her that he has never cared about someone so much.

* * *

_Alright, I would understand if you felt like there were too many OCs in this story and not enough of the rest of the gang, but hang on, I promise they're coming! I felt like it really important for Wen to be by himself for a bit in this chapter, so when I was writing this the OCs kind of just came naturally. _

_Thank all of you who added this story to their favorites and such, and thanks so much to pupgirl123 for reviewing! I am really glad that you are liking this story so far.  
_

_Please please please review! Don't make me beg...  
_


	3. Out of Everything

_Guys, I have to admit something. I have only seen this movie once._

_I am sorry, but it is true. Furthermore, I apologize for any characterization or plotlines that seem out of place. I know that I need to watch it again so I can be more familiar with it, but I probably wouldn't have even known about it if it wasn't for a couple of kids I babysit for. When they first asked me to watch it with them, let's just say that I was a little hesitant, but I let them watch it anyway because I didn't want to deprive them of what they really wanted considering I was the one who suggested that we watch a movie in the first place. Here's what happened:_

_Me: "Hey let's watch a movie or something."_

_Kids: "Okay! Let's watch this!"_

_Me: *Looks at it, fakes a smile* "Alright, looks awesome!" *Omg this movie is going to be so stupid. FML. FML.*_

_*Movie goes by*_

_Kids: "Tro lo lo, that was fun! Let's watch another one!"_

_Me: *OMFG that movie was so precious and I am way too emotionally invested in these characters. Why did you do this to me children? Why?* "Yeah, that was…cool…"_

_Ha ha, I am glad that they had me watch it in the end. It gave me hope for Disney movies after all._

_Anyway_

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything, I swear._

* * *

Olivia's eyelids slowly opened to find random sunrays bouncing from the blinds and hitting her eyes. Clearly no one closed the shade last night. She groaned and gradually tried to sit up against her headboard. Soon she found that she was still slightly intoxicated from last night's binge drinking; well at least that way she wouldn't have a hangover. While putting her face in her hands, Olivia tried to reconstruct the pieces from last night, but she was finding herself at a loss. What happened?

Alight, at the beginning of the night she came to the bar, found out it was ladies night, immediately began to rejoice, had a few, had a few more, this guy sitting hitting on her—what was his name? James…Jerry…Jimmy…Jared…Jason? It was something like that. The depressing part was that she could not even remember if he was attractive or not. His opening line was _so_ classic: Hey, I just keep running into you.

She claimed that she had never seen him before in her life, but he insisted that they had met before. Olivia was pretty confident that she was not that intoxicated yet, but she just went along with it anyway. After all of the drinking she had done lately, she was beginning to care less and less about random guy's feeble attempts to pick her up. They all usually ended the same way anyway.

Focus, what happened next? They were talking for a while about his Maserati or something; he probably thought that would impress her. Like she gave a shit about what kind of car he drove when she used to make twice as much as that car is worth on the regular, but she figured that he did not know that. They were talking about his car, and she was laughing at his every word, no doubt trying to be cute, when something else happened…

She closed her eyes and tried to focus. After some time, she sighed and gave up, lying back down on the bed. She rolled over and began to hate how she couldn't remember a lot of her nights. Why was she doing this to herself? She was only causing herself more grief and pain. While trying to suppress those thoughts, Olivia realized that she really needed to use the restroom.

When she rolled over and opened her eyes, something stopped her.

A very redheaded something.

Did she sleep with some from the bar last night that she did not even recall? She had done some pretty shady things before, so frankly, the thought did not surprise her. She crept out of bed and walked around to see who the culprit was. When she saw his peaceful sleeping face, she practically wanted to scream. She held her hand over her mouth to keep herself silent.

It was Wen. Wendell Gifford was in her bed.

How did she not realize that was him the moment she opened her eyes? It really couldn't have been anyone else. She blamed her still tipsy brain. Then a terrorizing thought hit her: did she sleep with Wen while completely intoxicated? It couldn't have been true. She slowly raised the sheet to find that he was still wearing his boxer briefs. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth. She should have figured as much when she found that she was in her underwear as well. Realizing that she probably should have more clothes on, she slowly crept to her dresser and pulled out an oversized t-shirt to put on. Then she tiptoed into the bathroom and closed the door. She leaned against it and let out a deep breath. What the hell was she thinking? She had no business _doing things_ with Wen like that! She probably made an ass out of herself last night if the past was any indication.

While putting her face in her hands, she slid down to the floor and felt like sobbing. This was awful. What was she supposed to do? A few minutes had gone by and Olivia still had not moved. She finally looked up and decided that she couldn't sit like that forever, no matter how much she wanted to. While she unhurriedly stood up and meandered over to her sink, she was honestly trying to rack her brain. When did Wen come into the picture last night? How did they reunite? Was she a bitch? Her thoughts were momentarily deterred when she had a look at her face.

She looked like hell. Her hair was a frazzled mess. There was makeup smudged all over her face, making it difficult to open and close her eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept in days due to the dark bags, and she was pretty sure that she had left over vomit in her hair. She really had no choice but to take a mandatory cleansing shower for many many reasons. She felt disgusting.

As she slipped in when the water was at the right temperature, she was again trying to retrace her steps from the night before. The last thing she was trying to recollect was the conversation she was having with what's his name. J-something. J-something and her were talking about his car. She was laughing about something he said pertaining to his luxury cup holders. Honestly that did get her, even if he didn't mean it to be funny, but honestly, how could cup holders be luxury? His pretend frowning face was the last thing she could remember. She sighed and grabbed her shampoo and poured way too much into her hand.

J-something. Jason. It had to be Jason. It sounded right to her. Cup holders, no, _luxury _cup holders. Laughter. Then what?

She stopped lathering and gasped. Wen. It all came back to her like a freight train. The awkward entrance. Jason and him getting into an argument. Wen _punching _Jason. The bouncer kicking them out. She then remembered that she still wanted to be around Wen; it took her a minute to compose herself, but she grabbed her coat and headed to the nearest bar. And the next one. And the next one. She was about to give up and go home, but for some reason she had a good feeling about the third one. When she stepped inside, she spotted his red hair almost immediately. He was laughing with the bartender, and from what she could see, two very attractive girls. She almost didn't approach him because he looked so content. Like everything thing was actually right for him in the world, and she would just be a shroud of melancholy and pain, but ultimately the weaker put of her took over and she blurted out his name.

She couldn't really decipher the look on his face when he turned around, but then whatever Wen might have been feeling was masked by a smile that made her feel better. He always made her feel better without even trying.

Subsequently, they had a few more drinks, and she began to make fun of him with those other two girls. They were really nice; she wished she remembered their names. She then recalled asking Wen why he punched Jason for her. Curiosity got the best of her because it was rare that any guy was so decent anymore, but then after that happened, no matter how hard she tried, she honestly could not remember anything later than that.

Absolutely frustrated with herself, she angrily finished her shower and threw on her clothes. Not really ready to face him, Olivia stood at the door for a few moments before she walked into her room. He was still sleeping in the same exact position she had left him in; she should have figured. Wen was the heaviest sleeper ever, which always proved to be a problem when the band had early mornings. She recalled many times when the whole gang was literally banging on his door and practically jumping on him to wake up. He certainly was stubborn and threatened to throw anything within reach to whoever tried to rouse him. The happy memories made her smile.

Now Olivia really didn't want to disturb him. Maybe she would go make breakfast and put a pot of coffee on or something. It really did not matter that it was one in the afternoon.

* * *

Wen found when he woke up that his body would not decide if it was still drunk or if it wanted to have a pounding headache. Either way, he still felt miserable. While holding his head, he slowly sat up and got out of bed to relieve himself in the bathroom. When he was done, he splashed water in his face to make himself feel better and more awake. It helped a little bit.

When he finished and went back to bed for what he planned to be the rest of his life, he made one very disturbing observation: Olivia was not in bed with him.

Did she leave? No, that was stupid. She wouldn't leave her own apartment, would she? Unless she woke up and was completely ashamed of herself when she saw that Wen next to her. Maybe she ran away and hoped that he would get the idea and leave, never to return.

The smell of coffee hit his nostrils. Alright, maybe he overacted a little bit. When he heard rustling around in the kitchen, he was certain that she didn't leave. Wen was so relieved that she was still there that he snuck up behind her and circled his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder.

Olivia did not respond very accordingly; she jumped and nearly dropped the coffee mug she was holding while she abruptly turned around, "What the hell are you doing?"

Wen was taken aback by her resentment, "Greeting you…in the morning."

"It's not the morning, Wen." She said as she broke from his grasp and took several steps backwards.

Wen did not seem to understand Olivia's very obvious implications and merely shrugged his shoulders, "Early afternoon, whatever."

"What are you doing?" She asked again with much confusion.

It finally clicked that she was not in such a happy mood as him, "What do you mean? Do you have a problem or something?"

She set down the mug on the table and crossed her arms, "You can't just come in here and do shit like that!"

Wen could not believe what she was just saying, "I don't really understand what's going on."

She sighed and walked back to the coffee machine, busying herself with it, "Just get out of here Wen." She said quietly.

"What are you talking about? Why?" Wen was too shocked to be offended.

"I honestly don't even know why you're here."

"Because _you_ asked me to be here."

She sighed and turned around, "Well, I'd say that you've outstayed your welcome. Would you please just leave?"

"Liv, would you please just tell me what is wrong so I can help you?" He asked defensively while raising his hands, trying to reason with her.

That question really seemed to set her off, and she angrily set down her coffee cup yet again and took a deep breath, "Look, I don't need any help. I don't need you here with me and I don't need—"

"Liv, please—"

"And I _don't _need you to fix me!"

That cut Wen deeply. That was not even his intention, but it still seemed to hit a soft spot. He figured that she didn't want to hear anything else that he had to say, "Okay Olivia. If that's what you want."

She crossed her arms and glared at him, "Yeah, it is."

He barely time to get all of his clothes together without her shooting daggers into his back before she slammed the door in his face. He didn't even care that he continued to stare forward, like she would somehow see the error of her ways and open the door, crying and apologizing for being so distant.

But the door did not move, and she did not come.

Wen's forehead was on the door's smooth surface before he even realized what he was doing, "I love you." He admitted to himself; the words barely audible.

He couldn't stay there any longer; it would only further emphasized what he had just lost.

* * *

Wen could not decide what he wanted to do when he got home. He didn't want to think about it; he just wanted to forget, but as soon as he closed his eyes, she was there. He could not get away from her, no matter how hard he tried.

He took a shower. He made himself the last box of macaroni and cheese in his cupboard. He absentmindedly flipped through the channels, trying to find something that would ease the pain, but to no avail. Eventually he figured that there was no use fighting it, so he began to analyze the night, wondering where he went wrong.

She seemed to have switched to being embarrassed by him to inviting him back to her place. It was all so confusing.

And then there was their almost sexual encounter. Wen never knew that a girl could get so upset over wanting to take it slower. They were moving way too fast, and honestly, all he wanted was to hold her for a while, so he could have the opportunity to tell her how he really felt about her. He would probably never get another chance.

He had done it again. He had given her what he she wanted, and he did not fight her on it. Why was he such an incessant pushover? A real man would have demanded that she tell him what is wrong, so they could go about trying to solve it. Not just immediately given up and feel sorry for himself. Again.

Were all guys like this? The sad part was that he wasn't even that sure anymore. He was starting to feel less and less masculine by the minute.

"Wen!" A voice yelled from his door, pulling him from his thoughts.

Who the hell would be at his door at three in the afternoon like this? He decided to ignore it.

"Wen, I know you're in there man. I can hear the T.V." The voice sounded all too familiar.

He accepted defeat, turned off the T.V., and answered the door. He should have known it was Charlie.

"Dude, you look like shit." He said as he walked around Wen, inviting himself in.

Wen closed the door with a sardonic expression, "Good to see you too."

Charlie sat down on the couch and helped himself to the mac and cheese that Wen did not finish. Normally, he would fight to the death for the forgotten meal, but he couldn't even muster up the energy to even protest. Charlie sensed Wen's downtrodden mood.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked with genuine concern. Wen looked up at his old friend, not even knowing where to start. Charlie had changed a lot over the years. He was in better shape, and was always on Wen about going to the gym with him. To Wen's credit, he was finally starting to join him. Charlie had also randomly cut off all of his hair one day, telling the rest of the group that it was time for a change. It was not long after Olivia had disappeared; Wen figured that they all did at that point.

Charlie waved his hand in his friend's face, "Hello! Wenny! You there?"

Wen shook his head and realized that he had spaced out again, "What?"

"I said, what is wrong with you. You're really starting to scare me bro." He said, putting down the macaroni.

If Wen was on his game, he would have made some kind of quip at Charlie's sudden seriousness and concern, but all he could say was that he did not know.

"Why not? What happened?"

Wen realized that this visit was probably not on his own accord, "Did you talk to Stella or something?"

Charlie did not respond for a few seconds, "That's not really the point."

Wen sighed loudly, "What do you mean? You making house calls now?"

"All she told me was that you guys got into an argument last night and that I should probably stop by and see if you were alright."

"I'm fine." He said stubbornly.

"Bull shit." Charlie retorted with a new sense of determinacy.

Neither gaze faltered as they just sat there and stared at each other for a while. After a couple of minutes, Wen finally gave up. He put face in his hands and nearly screamed, "Fuck!"

Charlie almost felt the need to go over to the redhead and give him a man hug, but he resisted the urge, still trying to gage how upset Wen really was, "Wen, please. Just tell me what is going on."

Wen got up and slowly began pacing around his living room, "I may have done something stupid last night." He began and realized that was probably a poor way to start his story.

The drummer gave him a confused expression with knitted brows, "What do you mean by stupid?"

"I went to a bar last night." Wen said as he continued his pacing.

Charlie finally realized what he was getting at; he gasped, "Oh my God Wen. You didn't sleep with some random chick, did you? What about Lyla?"

"Lyla broke up with me yesterday."

"Then what the hell Wen? That means that you hook up with someone you don't even know? Did you at least use protection? What about STI's Wen?" God, he sounded like his mother without the shrillness, although he was pretty close.

"I didn't hook up with some random chick Charlie!"

"Then what!" He exclaimed as he was losing his patience.

Wen stopped pacing and rubbed his hands over his face and sighed deeply, "Olivia. Olivia was at the bar last night."

Charlie nearly stood up and punched Wen for not telling him sooner, "Holy shit, Wen! You slept with Olivia last night?"

Wen looked over at him with a defended expression, "What? No!"

"Then you better start giving me some fucking answers Wendell!"

"We didn't sleep together alight!"

"Then what happened?"

Wen walked over and slowly sat back down on his couch, "I went to a bar last night because I had a really shitty day."

"Right."

"And I had a couple. Then I had that atrocious phone call with Stella, which put me in an even worse mood."

"I gathered that." He said, encouraging him to elaborate.

"And then I saw her. She was across the bar with some sleazy guy hitting on her. I couldn't just walk away when she was so close."

"I don't really blame you. Then what happened?"

"And then I…she…" Wen was at a loss for words for a few moments before he finally let down his walls and told Charlie everything. Needless to say, he was a bit surprised at some of the events that had taken place throughout the night, but he just let Wen continue. It at least explained the black eye that he was now sporting. Charlie didn't think that the story would have ended so abruptly.

"And then what?"

"And nothing. She pushed me out the door without any probable cause."

"That does not sound like Olivia at all." Charlie conduced, still a bit shocked.

Wen turned to him desperately, "You should have seen the look on her face when she asked if that's what all guys want. And then again in the morning. It actually pains me to think about it."

Charlie didn't really know what to say to comfort him, so he settled on something trivial, "Well did you tell her how you feel?"

Wen felt instantly annoyed and out his back to the couch, crossing his arms, "No. Like that would have made a difference."

"You never know. Maybe that's what she needed to hear."

Wen scoffed, turning to the defensive, "Coming from the guy who won't tell Mo how he feels after a million years."

"I _did _tell her how I feel, and she_ rejected_ me!"

"When we were like sixteen! So much has changed since then! Just grow a pair and tell her!" Wen felt like such a hypocrite. He also felt like he was yelling at himself.

"Do you really think that she wanted to hear that just after she found out that Scott had been cheating on her?"

Wen almost laughed at his naivety, "Yes!"

Charlie almost countered back to Wen, but then he realized what he was trying to do, "Wait? How did we get on me? We were talking about _you_ and_ your_ inadequacy."

Wen was about to yell something ridiculous, but he caught himself, "I don't know, man. I am sorry. I don't even know what's going on anymore."

Charlie looked up at Wen and saw how defeated he looked, how lost. He wished he knew the right words to say, "I honestly don't know either. Maybe we could get the girls to track her down and knock some sense into her."

Wen did not have a proper response to that because he didn't know how this new Olivia would react. It depressed him to think that he didn't even know her anymore, "I am sorry for what I said about you and Mo."

"It's alight. It's not like it wasn't true." Charlie said quietly.

"I know, but I have no room to talk." Wen stated in a self-destructing way.

Charlie chuckled a little bit, "We are a pair, aren't we?"

"I don't know about you, but my pair has had enough blows to its self-esteem lately." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

They laughed together and tried to forget themselves for a moment. Charlie still tried to land on some kind of revolution, however, and brought up the subject again, "Do you think that everything is going to be alright?"

Wen looked at him strangely and sighed, "I don't know, man. I just don't know…it's like all of the things that I was afraid of happening when we were teenagers is crashing down on me."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, attentive to the shift in seriousness.

"Like losing Olivia," he said as his eyes glanced downwards and he leaned on his hands, "and becoming washed up at twenty-two years old."

"I feel you there," Charlie admitted, having similar apprehensions himself, "when we started Lemonade Mouth, I really wanted to be somebody. I really wanted to be _myself_ without anyone standing in my way. And now look at me. I can't even tell the girl that I am in love with how I feel and even worse, I am working for my father. I would be so ashamed of myself if I knew this was how I was going to turn out. I feel like I am being spread way too thin in a world where I don't belong."

Wen felt the same way, but he wanted things to not get so dismal, "Well, I suppose that it could be worse." He said as he looked over at Charlie.

He raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"At least you have a job. And at least none of us are drug addicts, giving hand jobs to random drug dealers behind a shady alleyway for a fix."

"Well when you put it _that_ way," Charlie said as he punched Wen's arm, "I could probably get you a job at my dad's company if you want."

Wen wanted to immediately decline, but he couldn't deny that he would be in need of a job soon. He sighed, "I don't know."

Charlie clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Just think about, okay? You and I are in pretty similar boats, so I know how you feel."

Wen looked up at him with hopeful eyes, "Alright."

The brunette nodded and smiled, "Sweet…now let's do something else so we don't start spouting poetry about how tormented our souls are."

Wen smiled at his friend, "Like what?"

"I don't know; let me kick your ass at _Call of Duty_ or something." Charlie said as he got up to search for the game near Wen's Xbox.

Wen shook his head and began to walk towards the kitchen, figuring that they would need more to eat.

"Hey, do you have any beer or anything?" Charlie shouted at Wen as he heard the familiar buzz of firearms in the background. Wen looked to his fridge and deciphered if he wanted to drink anymore.

"Yeah, I have a few."

"Alright Wennikins! What are you doing in there? Get over here and meet your maker!"

"Coming." He said as he grabbed the six pack of Corona's he had and walked back over to the living room. Sometimes he loved how something as simple as shooting virtual people with a couple of beers could help him forget his woes. He let himself be lost for a few moments in time before he had to think about anything impending on his life that no longer made any sense.

* * *

_Aw, a bro moment! I just love those! I hope that I captured their friendship properly. I guess there isn't a lot of character development of it in the movie, but like I said, I have only seen it once…I promise I'll change that soon._

_Okay, I am sorry about the long ANs this time, but I feel like I need to elaborate on something that I think is important to the meaning of the story._

_Remember how I said that this story was loosely based off of the song "Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis?" If you actually had a listen to it, you would find that it's (spoiler alert!) about a drunken guy lying to drunken girl because he wants to sleep with her. I know that sounds pretty awful, but Brand New always has underlying messages in their songs. I had honestly never put any thought to it before, but I began to wonder about the song title when I started to write this story. "Me" I knew is obviously the narrator of the song, and "Elvis" is referring to Elvis Presley. But I then did not know who "Maradona" was. I then did my research. Most of you may not know this, but Maradona is referring to a famous soccer player named Diego Maradona._

_What do all of these people have in common you might ask? Well, Elvis, although he had an extremely successful career, eventually lost himself in a world of drugs and had a great downfall. The same thing happened to Maradona. I feel that when the singer of Brand New, Jesse Lacey, wrote this song, there was a duality behind it. _He_ is the drunken girl and becoming famous is the guy trying to take advantage of him. I think that according to Lacey, if someone rapidly becomes famous, he or she may end up throwing it all away because of something like drugs; thus, the pessimistic ending of the song._

_When I realized this, I knew that this was the perfect song to describe Wen and a lot of his fears. I feel like these concerns may be ones that the band may have actually had in the future, especially since they started out so young._

_I am sorry if you totally don't care about this story's roots, but I hope some of you find it interesting. Anyway, schoooolsss out for the summa for me, so I should be writing this pretty frequently—granted my jobs do not get in the way._

_As always, reviewing makes me smile. And thank you to GroupLovexoxo, Readingcutie428, Eagerreader, and Thokul for reviewing and to everyone else who added this story to their favorites and alerts!_

_Thanks for reading!_


	4. This Guilt That Will Crush

_*Puts on best Mufasa voice* Disclaimer: Everything the computer screen touches is _not _my kingdom. Or mine at all. Not even Mufasa's voice. _

* * *

While periodically checking her watch, Mo was becoming more and more aggravated by the moment. Stella was late. Again. Honestly, she wasn't surprised, but almost thirty minutes was getting a bit ridiculous. Mo looked around the semi crowded coffee shop and basked in the aura of caffeine for a few moments. The feeling of anxiety almost seemed to float away before she opened her eyes and was jolted back into reality. She and Stella tried to meet up as much as they could, so they would not fall out of place either. It was a bit more difficult for her considering that her finals were coming up, and her graduation after that.

It took an outrageous amount of hard work, and at times, it seemed nearly impossible, but she did it. She would be graduating in only four years. It didn't seem so difficult at first, bearing in mind that she already had her major picked out, but as the semesters wore on, the work load continued to pile up; she sometimes felt like there was no way out. However, she persevered by always taking well over a full load every semester on top of summer school.

At first, Mo felt like it was not even necessary for her to receive a college education since their band had really made it, but her father absolutely refused to be so lenient. From there it was only talks of how he didn't sacrifice everything for his daughter to be an uneducated college dropout. He always guilt tripped her like that; she wondered when he was going to stop hanging it over her head. Probably never.

It was worth it though, in the end. Mo understood her father's concerns, and she did not regret her decisions. Those terrible teenage years were over, and she and her father were at a much better understanding of each other.

She wished she could say as much for her friends. Although she had always heard that it was difficult to keep in touch with high school friends, she never really thought that would apply to her and Lemonade Mouth. They were like family, and nothing could ever change that.

But in reality, it was hard. No matter how much effort she would put in, she felt like she was coming up short. Then, much to her chagrin, Olivia faded from their lives and things only began to get worse. Their unbreakable bond was only holding on by a thread. A thread that threatened to grow thinner and thinner by the day. No matter how many wonderful times they had together, and no matter how much she still loved everyone, it was becoming seemingly impossible for the reunion that she had always imagined to actually come true, especially if no one was putting in the effort and everyone was changing.

She looked back at her life in the years since high school and all of its problems that she thought were so poignant at the time. If she only knew what was in store for her after that. All of those problems seemed so trivial now. Even in the time since she had turned eighteen, she had changed. She knew that; it was a part of life to grow into the person you want to be in early adulthood. But if everyone was growing and maturing separately, how could they ever find a way back together? She was grateful everyday that she still had a stronghold in Stella.

Charlie, too. When she actually had the opportunity to see him, but they were both extremely busy and she understood that. It was such a rarity to still have them in her life.

It was time for her to stop being nostalgic and start being productive if Stella was going to insist on being tardy. She pulled her lab top out of her bag and attempted to finish her final essay for one of her music classes.

Well, she had written her name. That was a start.

A figure then violently sat across of her and nearly fell out of her chair. Mo looked up at her; Stella looked like a mess complete with obvious bed head and a giant pair of sunglasses, "Let me guess Stell…you went out last night?"

Stella picked up the now cold coffee that Mo had bought her pointed a chipped polished finger at her, "I don't know what you are talking about Ms. Banjaree. I am the model student. Just like yourself."

Mo rolled her eyes and sighed while closed her laptop. She really hated when Stella threw that in her face, "How many time do I have to tell you? I am _not _the prefect student. I have skipped classes! I have failed and had retake a couple of them! Just because I am graduating does not mean that I was anywhere near perfection!"

"Hey. I am graduating too. Although it doesn't really count."

Mo really hated when she was so down on herself, "It _does _count Stell. Don't let anyone tell you any differently."

She pressed her glasses to the bridge of her nose and raised her free arm in the air, "Woo! Alert the authorities! Stella Yamada is graduating from community college!"

"Community college does not make it any less important." She reassured as she reached for Stella's hand.

Stella scoffed and tried to take a sip of her cold latte, "Whatever Mo, try telling that to my genius family that I clearly don't belong in," she said as she nearly spit out her drink, "Jesus! Are you trying to poison me with old coffee?"

Mo sighed and crossed her arms, "It would have been less deadly if you actually got here on time." She stated curtly as she was trying not to lose her temper. It is not like she was angry; she was just frustrated that Stella thought so low of herself. At least Stella was trying to make something of herself, despite her parents' ridiculously high expectations. Mo's own father could be really harsh at times, but at least he understood when she tried her best. Stella's family claimed that they were not disappointed in her choices, but one could easily tell that they anticipated more. After dwelling for two years, Stella finally found it in herself to get things moving again, and Mo was always there to help her, "And anyway, I am not your mother and I am not going to scold you for having fun. Just as long as you finish your finals alright…what _were_ you doing anyway?" She was curious, despite herself.

Stella gave her a knowing smile underneath her sunglasses.

Mo grinned and tried to make an assumption, "Was it Craig?"

Stella snorted and began laughing.

"What?" Mo asked, wondering what could be so funny.

"Ew! Not that douche! I am _so _done with him. I am pretty sure that he sleeps around with everyone."

"Then spit it out Yamada." The brunette commanded with much ferociousness.

Stella rubbed her nose and looked down, not wanting to meet Mo's fierce gaze, "I was with Liam."

Mo almost retorted immediately, but then thought more of her response. Liam. Had she heard this name before? She racked her brain of all the men Stella had gone through. Liam.

_Liam_! She remembered now. He was that adorable psychology major that was head over heels for Stella; unfortunately, she had a momentary lapse in judgment and left him cold when she had a minor panic attack about her commitment. Mo let out a sly smile, "Oh my God."

"What?" She asked, actually looking up at her.

"You _like_ him, don't you?" She loved sounding so cliché, especially when it was towards the rebellious Stella.

"I may have drunk texted last night," she tried to hide her smile as she stood up, "_but_ I have to get another latte that is not going to make me want to kill myself."

"I knew that you would fall for that tall, dark, and handsome fellow Ms. Yamada! Isn't it all just a dream?" she taunted in her best southern accent, "How could you not love those baby blue eyes of his?"

Stella turned around in line and motioned her hand slitting her neck. Mo was dead. She didn't really care, however, as long as Stella was happy and she could rip on her. It was all a part of the fun when friends were in denial.

Stella returned in a few minutes with a fresh latte. She took the top off and blew on it before sipping on the scorching beverage, "Like you have any light to stand on." She said under her breath.

Mo looked at her with a curious expression, "Huh?"

"Oh, please. You know exactly what I am talking about."

Mo continued to feign ignorance, "No, I don't." She concluded as she stuffed her laptop back into her bag.

"Alright. Let me just call up Charlie and tell him that you and Scott back together." She threatened as she got her phone out of her pocket.

"Ugh! Scott and I did not get back together! I know he is an asshole and I have learned my lesson. We were just settling things the other night. I was saying goodbye."

"Okay, well I'll call Charlie and tell him that you are not looking for anyone." Stella looked down and unlocked her phone.

"Anyway," Mo said as she got up and slung her bag over her shoulder, "we have to get going. We both have finals to study for, and I am not letting you bomb them."

Stella sighed and stood up with her, "Don't worry, Mom. I won't."

Mo motioned that she wanted to get another coffee before they left. As they waited in line together, Mo got the sense that Stella did not want to touch on the Liam issue. Not yet anyway. She decided to cut her some slack with the full intention of grilling her on it later. Nonetheless, she decided to change the subject, "So your talk with Wen didn't go so well last night?"

Stella sighed with slouched shoulders, and then she actually removed her sunglasses, "Fuck no. There is seriously something wrong with him; I just wish that he would let us help him."

It honestly hurt Mo to hear that Wen, too, was in so much agony. It was clear that Olivia was always the reason, but it was really getting to him lately. She hadn't seen his smiling, freckly face in months, and seriously missed the carefree attitude of the former keyboardist. If only there was some way to reach out to him, "Do you think that Charlie would talk to him? Maybe he needs some manly bonding time or something." Mo declared as she ordered her drink and walked over to where the pickup was.

Stella shrugged and leaned on the counter, "I don't know. I told Charlie about it last night after it happened. Hopefully he will actually make an effort to go see him…you should have heard him Mo," she said suddenly becoming very quiet, "h-he sounded so…broken. I don't even want to think about it."

Mo glanced at her friend and leaned on her shoulder, "I know, Stell. I know," she reassured as she noticed that her coffee was ready; she grabbed it and headed out the door with her discrepant companion, "hey," she said she stopped and made Stella look at her, "we _will_ help him. We'll be there every step of the way if we need to. I miss him too…and Olivia."

"Right." Stella said as she slipped her sunglasses back on. Mo now wished she had a pair of her own. They didn't need to say anything else. Everything was already understood. They exited the coffee shop with the intent on walking to either of their apartments before a figure nearly ran into them and briskly walked into the other direction. Mo almost spilled her coffee, but Stella was still paying attention and abruptly took off her glasses. She squinted at the blonde practically running away from them, and although she tried to escape, there was no denying who it was.

"Olivia!"

* * *

Mo looked over at Stella in astonishment when she heard Stella yelling Olivia. Stella didn't wasn't really focused on Mo's current distress for her as she took off chasing Olivia down the street. Mo would eventually see Stella's concern anyway.

"Olivia! Come on, I know that it's you! Will you please just slow down?" Stella yelled as Olivia finally stopped and slowly turned around. They were both breathing hard, "I honestly don't even know where to start Liv."

Olivia just looked down in shame and began rubbing her arms. Mo caught up with them with the look of shock still on her face. She and Stella exchanged a look and knew immediately what they needed to do.

They both walked up to Olivia and embraced her, no questions asked. They knew the blonde's explanation of her whereabouts would come later, for now she just needed to know that she was loved.

"We love you, Olivia." Stella reassured, rubbing her back. Mo nodded in agreement.

As they pulled away, they saw that Olivia began to tear up, probably feeling overwhelmed. Stella wanted to wipe them away, but she refrained.

"Y-you guys don't hate me? After everything I have done? After all this time?" She asked, still trying to hold back the tears.

"Oh, Liv. How could we hate you? I miss you like crazy. We were just confused and thought that you were angry with us." Mo said, giving one of her hands a squeeze.

"I wasn't angry with you guys…I just…I didn't," she sighed and began to bite a nail, "I don't know."

Stella put an arm around her shoulders, "Hey, if you don't want to talk about it right now, that's fine. We just want you back in our lives. We all do, Wen especially."

Olivia then had a very strange reaction and looked like she was about to pass out. She took a couple breaths and almost fell over. Stella and Mo rushed to support her, "I think I need to sit down." She said in a weak voice.

"Yeah, okay. Let's get you back to Mo's place. It's the closest." Stella concluded as they began to head in that direction. As they walked, none of them seemed to be able to find the right words to say. It was all so confusing and sudden that Olivia would just quite literally walk back into their lives again. Stella especially did not know what to think of it, but she figured that Olivia would feel better once they settled down; she did look like she was about to be sick. Once they reached Mo's apartment, she pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. Olivia had an interesting smile on her face.

"You moved." She deduced as she passed the threshold into the apartment.

Mo smiled and took her bag off while hanging her keys on the hook by the door, "Yeah, I did. It was just a couple months ago."

"I am sure that I have missed much more than that." She said as Stella led her to the nearest couch. Mo went into the kitchen and got Olivia a glass of water. She thought lemonade would hit too close to home right now. Olivia took it gratefully and tossed it back very quickly. Neither Stella nor Mo really knew what to say, so Stella figured Olivia would talk when she was ready. A couple minutes went by before she began to speak, "It seems like…fate." She whispered very quietly.

Stella leaned forward and strained to hear her, "What seems like fate Olivia?"

Olivia looked down and began to bite a nail again, "That I would run into you guys like this."

"Well I guess it was inevitable that we were going to run into each other if we all still live in the same place." Mo said, trying to sound logical.

"I know but…I just can't think that this is all such a coincidence in such a sort amount of time." She said while hitting the side of her water glass with her fingers.

She lost Stella there. It didn't make any sense, "Wait, what you are talking about?"

Olivia sighed and didn't speak for a few seconds, "I woke up this morning with Wen in my bed." She admitted abruptly and looked like she was ready to pass out again.

It took the girls a little bit to register what Olivia had said, Stella was the first to respond, "You slept with Wen last night?" The idea, for some reason, at the moment seemed ludicrous, even though Stella always thought that the two finally being together was meant to be and as inventible as the seasons changing. But the facts were that none of them had seen Olivia in God knows how long, and Wen was starting to become a stranger as well. What were the chances that they would find each other in a bar like that? It seemed even stranger to think that it was the same night that Stella had finally gotten a hold of him, and he was still so miserable. Their call must have happened right before.

Olivia put her palm to her forehead slowly and closed her eyes, "I don't know."

"You _don't know_? How could you not know?" Stella asked to quickly. She mentally slapped herself for sounding so judgmental.

She looked up at the two girls looking nauseated, just like she used to sometimes before they played big shows, "Well I," she cleared her throat, "I went drinking last night…" She began as she regaled what she could remember from the night. She felt ashamed and dirty; like her once best friends were judging her and never wanted to see her again.

"So," Mo began after Olivia was done with her story, "you don't remember if you two slept together or not?"

Olivia felt like the conversation had come full circle, "Yeah…well I don't feel like we did because we were both in our underwear when we woke up."

Stella's eyebrows shot up, "Well that seems like a good sign, right?" She emphasized because she knew how terrible it was to wake up with someone you didn't remember bringing home. At least in this case it was Wen; the man who would rather eat a rusty bucket of nails then to hurt Olivia.

Mo thought of a problem in her story, "So what happened when he woke up? Why aren't you guys together now?"

Olivia looked down again and swallowed hard, "He uh, just left after he woke up…I don't know why."

It was clear that she did not want to talk about, so Stella laid off the subject. She felt for her woebegone friend, and wished she could make all of her pain go away. Conversely, she was completely taken aback by Wen's actions. It never seemed like something that he would do, especially considering it had to do with Olivia. Nevertheless, he was acting extremely distant lately, but she always thought it was because of Olivia. Maybe there were some other underlying problems that even the blonde didn't know about. It made Stella sick with worry.

As the girls continued to talk and catch up, no one really wanted to bring up the obvious turmoil: where had Olivia been and why, what happened with her and Wen last night, and what led Wen to leaving so abruptly. Stella figured that Mo had the same mentality as her: she didn't want to push Olivia too much in fear that she would run away again. The idea went against all of her morals to be too passive, but she couldn't risk losing Olivia again like that; no one could.

Mo ended up preparing hastily made Ramen noodles for all of them because time had rapidly escaped them. Mo profusely apologized for her lack of sufficient groceries, but the other two waved her off. All of them giggled and had a comfortable conversation about "the good old days" while slurping up their food. Eventually, Stella had to get home because she had to finish up studying for her finals, and Mo had to finish that dreaded paper that she had putting off for far too long now. She insisted that Olivia did not need to leave, sensing that the blonde did not really want to be alone. To her surprise, Olivia smiled gratefully and relaxed on her couch absentmindedly watching television while Mo rapped away at her laptop, concentrating fiercely. It was well past midnight before Mo had finally finished her paper on the different stages of Mozart's music and how it related to today's world. She looked at the clock and sighed heavily. She was exhausted. The worst was over. Well, at least for now until finals actually started.

While she closed her laptop, she found the sleeping figure of Olivia on her couch. She had almost forgotten that the singer was still there. Mo guessed that she had long since fallen asleep, and she felt no need to wake her. She did look strained and worn-out. Mo grabbed the nearest blanket, draped it Olivia, turned off the TV, and got ready for bed.

As she laid in bed, eager to get some much needed rest, she briefly reflected on the day's events. Olivia was right, so much _had_ happened in even the last twenty-four hours. It was all so much to process. The thing that she looked at most, however, was the part of the night where the three of them just sat around and let the impending matters fall away, and they were able to be themselves again. When she looked back at it, she realized that it was so much more than just three girls laughing together and enjoying each other's company. It was reminiscent of the days where Mo felt happiest, and not only was Lemonade Mouth thriving, all of their friendships were as well. Even though it was a time of ignorance and callowness, as Mo came to realize, she still cherished the memories as if they were all she had left; it was bliss.

The three of them together felt right; it felt like a home that she had made for herself that consisted of the band, and she wanted it back.

* * *

Stella let herself in with the key she had to Mo's apartment as the other two girls were still slumbering at eleven in the morning. She chortled at her devious plan and rubbed her palms together; she almost wished that she had brought a megaphone. Yelling would do just as well, "GOODMORNING MY LOVELIES!" She yelled as loudly as she could while she ran over to Mo's stereo and turned it on. It was the radio, she came to realize, and it was playing "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder. While she shrugged her shoulders and thinking it would suffice, she began to dance around the apartment and singing the lyrics, "You can feel it all ooooooverrrr! You can feel it all ooooveerrrr people!" She happily sang as Olivia groaned pulled the blanket over her head.

"I _hate _you!" Olivia yelled over the soothing tones of Stevie's voice.

"What? I can't hear you! …I can feel it all over, all ooover now people!" Stella sang off tune, almost pulling Olivia off the couch to dance with her before the music was unexpectedly turned off. The guitarist slowly turned around to face the red flushed Mo. Stella crossed her arms and stared into Mo's angry brown eyes, "Yes, Mohini?"

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing? I feel like I just got to sleep after that never-ending paper last night!" Mo screamed so furiously that it even made Stella feel frightened.

Stella held up her arms in defeat, "Hey, calm down there. I was just trying to find a…_colorful_ way to wake you guys up!" She honestly meant no harm. All she wanted to do was bring the fun that they had gradually lost over the years back into their lives.

"And why," she said curtly, "would we need that?"

Stella studied Mo up and down, taking in her angry features. She _did_ look fatigued with the dark circles under her eyes and her slouched shoulders. Stella empathized with her friend; Mo was the unmistaken look of a student that was about to go through finals, and she was sure that Mo's were going to be much more difficult than her own. Time to bring the mood back up, "It's to…celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" Mo screeched, her countenance never wavering from irritation.

"To celebrate…Olivia's return to our lives! And the end of finals!" Stella stated cautiously, trying to get Mo to understand that this was a time to be happy and thankful.

Mo briefly smiled at Olivia, who looked like she was trying to be as small and invisible as possible on the couch, before she resumed her glaring at Stella, "Finals aren't even over! They don't even start for another week!"

Stella grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck, "I know, but I just got so excited last night that things were finally looking up, and the fact that we are _so_ close to the end made me more riled up."

That finally struck a chord in Mo's heart as she visibly relaxed, "You're right. I just get so anxious around this time of year that sometimes I completely snap."

Stella walked over to her and put an arm around her, "Believe me, _I know_. You just need to calm down. You always psych yourself out before your tests, thinking that you are going to fail miserably, but you always prevail and do well."

"Well," Mo started, "I guess you may be on to something," she said as she tensed up again, "but that was still completely uncalled for! I mean what the hell?"

The two girls laughed and hugged as Mo made her way over to the kitchen to make some cereal or something for breakfast. Olivia felt extremely out of place and awkward, which was sad because these were supposed to be her best friends…or they _were_ her best friends before everything got so fucked up. Stella noticed her downtrodden expression and sat down next to her, "Hey, are you alright?"

Olivia appeared to have fallen out of a daze when she looked up at Stella, "Uh, yeah…I'm fine."

Stella tactfully responded, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, really. I am fine, just a bit tired is all. I _was_ just woken up by Stevie Wonder." Olivia pushed a smile to her lips.

Stella mentally shrugged, still not wanting to push her too far, "Well that's the best way to wake up, isn't it Liv?"

"Oh yeah," Olivia countered back as she shoved Stella playfully, "come on, let's go see it Mo needs help."

Stella rolled her eyes, "Yes, because putting together a hearty breakfast of cereal is so difficult."

Stella still felt as if there was something wrong, even when they had all laughed together and eventually parted ways. She sincerely hoped the whole occurrence wasn't just a fluke, and they would actually have Olivia back in their lives again.

* * *

Unfortunately, as finals neared for Stella and Mo, they began to become more and more distant, and even though their reunion with Olivia was very important, it was hard to find time to keep up with her. Mo especially hoped that she was alright, and that she understood that she and Stella needed to concentrate on their studies at the moment.

It also felt strange that she hadn't seen Wen in so long, and hadn't heard anything about him in the last couple of days, not even from Charlie. In fact, she hadn't even spoken to Charlie since before this whole thing had happened, and that made her feel even worse. She really didn't have time to worry about this, however, as her finals were pressing on her, and Charlie knew that. Maybe that was why he hadn't tried to make contact with her.

Tomorrow she would have her worst final of all: math. She hated math, and as a music major, she really didn't understand why she needed college algebra to complete her degree. It was all such bullshit. She of course put this GE off as long as she could, but considering this was her last semester, she really couldn't procrastinate any longer. Mo constantly had to receive help from tutors on the more complex concepts, and she never knew that she could hate hyperbolas and logarithms so much.

With constant help, she might be able to pull through; at least, that's what she told herself.

* * *

The hell was over as Mo left her algebra final feeling semi-confident. She was just about to pull out her phone to call Stella and ask her how her finals were going when Charlie's picture popped up on the screen in a phone call. She eagerly answered it, "Charlie! Where have you been? I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever!"

He chuckled before responding, "It's only been a little bit over a week Mo."

Mo mentally berated herself for sounding so enthusiastic. She must have sounded desperate, "Sorry, you know how I get around finals."

"Yeah, it's like a constant state of PMS." He teased.

"Did you want to actually speak to me, or become acquainted with the dial tone?" Mo asked, trying to sound upset, but she couldn't help herself sometimes when she was around Charlie.

"Okay, okay. I put up my white flag. I was just calling to wish you good luck on all of your finals."

Mo sighed and slumped over as she made her way over to the parking lot, "Too late."

There was a brief pause, "Too late? What do you mean too late? They were this week right? Did I already miss them? Mo you're supposed to tell me these things; what the—"

"Charlie calm down! I just took one like just now. I still have three more."

Charlie actually seemed relieved on the other end and sighed; like it was some ordeal that he missed Mo's finals or something. It couldn't have been that big of a deal, right?

"Well how did you do?" He asked casually; he was definitely expecting the usual answer.

Mo nearly groaned in response, "I…I don't know." She said in a frustrated tone.

"Oh come on Mo," he scoffed, "you _always _do well."

Mo was starting to become very weary of this 'Mo _always _does well' stereotype, "Well it was math, so I am not so sure on this one. You know how I am at math."

Charlie knew. He was actually pretty good with the subject and would help her from time to time, "You just seem to convince yourself that you can't do it when you really can."

"Well," she sighed, "it's over now. Nothing else can be done."

"Just let me know how you do."

"Will do." She said as she approached her car and unlocked it.

"I guess I'll talk to you later then." Charlie suggested, sensing that Mo did not want to discuss any finals topics any further.

"Yeah alright," she declared as she sat in her front seat, "thanks for calling by the way. It was really sweet."

"Anytime." Charlie answered.

Mo hoped that he couldn't feel her smile through the phone, "Wait! I almost forgot. I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Stella told me that she suggested that you should go and check on Wen after their phone call last week."

"Yeah…"

Mo sighed. She hated beating around the bush, especially when it came to Charlie because it seemed to be something that happened regularly, "_So_…"

"So…what?"

"Are you serious Charlie?" she asked as the pinched the bridge of her nose, "did you actually see him or not?"

"Whoa! Calm down! Yeah, I saw him."

"And?"

"And…well…"

"Well what?"

Charlie sighed and paused for a few seconds as if he did not want to recollect the event. Mo certainly hoped that was not the case, "Well, he was a mess Mo, alright? He seemed miserable and regretful and like he never wanted to see the light of day. And you want to know what the most fucked up part is?"

Mo was actually afraid of the answer, "What?"

"Wen actually _saw_ Olivia that night. He went home with her."

Mo was about to respond with a very condescending answer that consisted of the phrase 'duh,' but then remembered that Charlie did not know that she and Stella also saw the blonde last week, "Yeah…I know."

"_What_? How could you possibly know that?"

"Stella and I…kind of ran into Olivia last week as well…well actually _she_ almost ran into us, but—"

"Are you serious? When? How?"

"The day after it all happened. We took her back to my apartment actually, and she told us everything."

"How come no one tells me anything?" Charlie complained. That was not the response that Mo was expecting.

"What do you mean? You already knew all of this!" Mo exclaimed harshly.

"Yeah, because of Wen."

"So."

"So…it would have been nice to know that we all have the same information!"

"Well I am sorry; you know that we have been busy with finals…and besides! Why didn't _you _tell us anything?"

"…"

Mo sighed and unfortunately understood why people always said that they bicker like an old married couple. They weren't even together for Christ's sake! She decided that was not the focus of the conversation anyway, "Whatever, that's not the point!"

"Then what is?" Charlie asked, sounding hopeful.

"Don't you see what this means?" She almost yelled, getting really excited.

"Uh…no."

"Charlie!" she said in such a sincerely sweet voice, "this means we have an opportunity to get everyone in the same room again!"

"Ohhhh...how?"

Mo didn't even care at this point that Charlie was not on the same page; she would catch him up, "Look, we know now that both Wen and Olivia are _alive_…"

"Yeah…"

"And so this means that we can…_encourage_ them that getting everybody back together would actually be a positive thing, which could ultimately lead in—"

"Getting the band back together!" Charlie exclaimed, finally seeing eye to eye with Mo, "dude, this is perfect! Why didn't we do this sooner?"

Mo didn't say anything because she figured that they both knew the answer to that question. They hadn't acted sooner because they felt like they didn't have any hope before. Whenever effort was made before, they eventually felt inadequate and unwanted. They had tried to find Olivia and bring her back so she could know that they did love her and that what happened to her in the past was awful. They had tried to encourage Wen and tell him that the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders and that it wasn't his fault. Mo actually thought that eventually, they would all feel like Wen. She certainly felt like she had failed somehow, and that definitely wasn't helping; it was that feeling of failure and doubt that led to a lack of motivation for all of them. It also led to a guilt that took hold of them and crushed them all. Maybe Olivia was right. Maybe it was fate.

Fate was what brought them all together in the first place, right?

"We need to talk to Stella. Now."

* * *

_Oh snap. They're conspiring!_

_Sorry if you thought that a couple of these scenes were cheesy. I guess I didn't want _all _of them to be depressing. And sorry if you thought it was a little boring; if you didn't notice, this was a chapter that was setting things up._

_Alright, so I watched the movie again guys! Aren't you proud of me? _

_If I could say one thing about the movie, it would be this: Wen. Dat mother fucker would own a robe. What an OG._

_Of course, thank all of you who added me as their favorite author, and who added this story to their favorites. I really do appreciate that guys; it makes me feel like there _are _people reading this story out there._

_I also really appreciate reviews! So thank you very much Madison706 and Readingcutie428._

_Thank you guys so much for reading. Really. _


	5. Sinking Like a Stone in the Sea

_Hey guys, remember that one time when it took me almost two months to update? Man, that was terrible…_

_…Oh wait…_

_I am so so so sorry that this took me so long. I have just had a really hectic few weeks, and it was hard to find time to write this. So I wrote this extra long chapter to make up for it, okay? :)  
_

_Disclaimer: Uhhh definitely not mine._

* * *

"Okay, so we need to get Olivia and Wen in the same room without it being extremely awkward." Stella said determinately. She, Charlie, and Mo were all at her apartment when the duo abruptly entered with apparently great news. When Stella heard their plan, she was of course on board, but now they were trying to figure out the actual semantics of the matter.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Charlie asked curiously, he was never really included in the conspiring before, so this was all new to him.

"That's what we're trying to figure out Charlie!" Mo nearly shouted at him.

"I know, but I was just wondering how we're actually going to pull this off!"

"Well that's the whole reason why we're here! Did you completely forget or something?"

"No! I was just trying to—"

"Children!" Stella yelled at the two adults bickering on her couch. They slowly turned to face her, "Do you really think that arguing is going to get us anywhere?" They both looked down in shame, "I didn't think so. Now let's actually get the ball rolling." Stella stated ferociously while she began pacing her living room. She almost wished she had a white board or something to quickly jot down all of her thoughts. She was becoming increasingly frustrated at the people she was working with, speaking of sexual tension. One would think that Charlie and Mo would see their obvious feelings for each other, especially when they have been discussing Wen and Olivia. This was getting ridiculous. Must she do all of the work herself?

"Okay," Mo said as she tucked her hair behind her ears and scooted closer to the edge of the couch. Charlie stared at her with a goofy grin which led to Stella nearly wanting to slap him, "We need to think of an event that we can all go to where they can't refuse an invitation."

"When is something like that coming up? You know the two of them; they'll just make up excuses, especially if they think that the other one is going to be there."

Mo turned to face him, "We'll just need to be very convincing."

Charlie slumped back and crossed his arms, "I don't know how well this is going to work out."

Stella tuned her two sexually charged friends out and tried to concentrate while she continued her pacing. What was something that was so important that they couldn't refuse attendance to? Maybe they could schedule some kind of interview stating that they've reunited, and they would feel so guilty because of all the effort made, that they would have to go. No, that would be stupid. They didn't even know if they could get the two in the same room, let alone guaranteeing a band reunion. That would definitely send Olivia running. Stella looked at all of the major events in her life. She then snapped her fingers and chastised herself for not thinking of it sooner. Honestly, how could they have been so thick? She blamed her stress heavy brain.

"I've got it!" She yelled, startling the two on the couch.

"What is it Stella?" Mo asked, looking excited for Stella's new found idea.

Stella looked over at Mo with a bemused expression, "Uh what's going to be one of the biggest events in our young lives so far?"

Stella thought for a couple seconds and then had a look of enlightenment, "Our graduation!"

"Yes!" Stella screamed, nearly jumping up and down.

Charlie looked at them with a confused expression, "But aren't your graduations on different days?"

"Well if neither one of them make it to the actual graduations they _have_ to go to the party we are throwing." Mo explained.

Charlie's eyebrows rose in realization, "Oh yeah! You guys are having a joint party aren't you?"

Stella rubbed her palms together and almost felt like maniacally laughing, "_Oh_ yeah."

* * *

It was physically impossible to be this nervous, wasn't it? Mo was sweating, and the ceremony hadn't even started yet; in fact, it was just the before graduation brunch, but it was still nerve racking. She was shaking and she was pretty sure that she was extremely pale. She found herself just standing in front of the snack table, staring off into the cheese and crackers.

"Mo, what's wrong?" Someone asked, pulling her out of her torpor.

She shook her head and looked over at the culprit. It was Charlie of course.

"I'm just really nervous Charlie." Mo said in a shaky voice.

He gave her a confused look, "Why? This is just the last step to show off everything that you have worked for. You deserve all of this and more."

She began to rub her left arm in response, "I don't know about that."

"And why not?" He asked while grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to face him.

"I don't know…because…I—"

He held up a hand to silence her, "I know I am not a college educated student or anything. Just a lowly, washed up drummer, so I may not know much, but I do know this," he said as he took in t a long breath, "you are so smart, talented, funny—"

"Charlie—"

"And _stubborn_," he added with emphasis as she looked down. He momentarily lifted her chin so she would face him, "and you have such a passion about you that you don't ever usually see in people. You accomplish whatever you set your sights to, and I am absolutely honored to have been a witness to all of your achievements." He also wanted to say that he _loves her_, but he felt like it was not the right time or place.

He saw her smile and look down again, "Thanks Charlie," she stated as she met his eyes, "when did you get to be so good with words?"

Charlie was about to say something, but then Mo's father came up behind them, ruining the moment, "Are you ready Monu? They said it is time to start lining up in your section."

She swallowed and nodded, "Yes Baba, of course." She gave Charlie one last nervous look and took her father's hand. Charlie just stayed in the same place for a few seconds trying to react properly. He didn't even get to say good luck.

When he turned around, however, he was met with a large bone crushing hug from Mo. She pulled away and whispered, "Thanks again Charlie."

He smiled and tried not to blush, "You're welcome," she started to walk away again, "Mo!" he called for her. She turned around quickly, "good luck." He said softly. All she did was nod as she turned back to her parents and followed them out the door.

"You're pathetic," said a voice from behind him. He spun to face the person who called him out on his most obvious and pertinent insecurity.

He was surprised to find that it was Wen. Charlie couldn't help the smile that he was forming, "Well look who finally decided to show up. And right when Mo leaves."

Wen shrugged, "Parking was an absolute bitch, but I wouldn't miss Mo's big day. I can congratulate her after the ceremony anyway."

Charlie had to admit that the redhead was looking a lot better from the last time they had met. His eye had healed and he didn't look as depressed or nauseous, "Well I'm glad you're here."

The drummer looked past Wen's head and saw the familiar figure of Stella approaching them with a shocked look on her face. He saw that she had mouthed "oh my God." Charlie was a bit confused at first, but then he saw that she was with none other than Olivia. Well, this was going to be interesting. No one actually thought that both of them would show up to either graduation. Time to warn Wen.

"Okay, Wendell," he said gingerly as he grasped Wen's shoulders, the man in question looked very confused, "don't panic alright. I need you to stay cool. Can you do that for me?"

Wen just furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?"

However, before he could answer him, the girls had finally caught up with them. Stella took the initiative to greet and make pleasantries, "Wen!"

He then looked surprised and turned around to find Stella and a very awkward looking Olivia, "Hey guys!" He said cautiously as he embraced Stella. Olivia looked up at him and gave him a half smile.

Wen was just about to say something to ease the tension when the blonde looked up at Stella desperately, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Stella looked to Olivia and then to Charlie, "Yeah, me too." She gave Charlie this sort of strange look and motioned her head that signaled that he should come along too. He picked this insinuation up and unfortunately had to oblige.

"Uh, yeah…me too." He said unconfidently as Stella grabbed his arm to follow them towards the facilities. Alright, he understood that they needed to discuss some much needed ground work, but there is no way that he was having a gal pal in the women's bathroom. Again. This was also a little bit more of a public place than backstage at their high school. There actually might be women in there!

Just as Stella looked like she was going to pull him in with her ridiculously strong arms, she let go of his hand and entered the bathroom without him. He let out a sigh of relieve before she emerged about two seconds later with a frantic look on her face.

"Okay, we have about thirty seconds before Olivia is done." She whispered harshly.

"Alright." Charlie responded, trying to stay calm.

"Alright? _Alright_?! What the fuck are we going to do?" She whispered loudly raising her arms in the air.

It was not very often that one could see Stella so flustered and unprepared. Charlie honestly did not know what to do, "Alright, so we can see from that very awkward greeting that they're still not exactly on great terms."

She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, "You think?"

"So should we intervene or should we just let them sort it out for themselves?"

"Well if the past is any indication, these two are not going to work it out themselves. They have more sexual tension than _Brokeback Mountain_."

Charlie looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Wha? Wait, nevermind…Well maybe we should have them at least make nice or something until we can get them to your party."

Stella raised her eyebrows in realization, "Yes! Let all the alcohol do the talking! That's perfect Charlie!" She said checking her watch, "Lord, I hope this doesn't happen at my graduation. At least Mo doesn't know and doesn't have to worry." Without another word, she turned on her heel back into the bathroom. Charlie honestly didn't know what he really accomplished, but he learned over the years to just roll with it. With a few moments of peace and quiet gone, Stella and Olivia came out of the bathroom making small talk. Olivia looked up at him with a regretful look.

"Sorry for not saying hi earlier Charlie." She said sadly.

Charlie shrugged and offered her a hug, which she took gratefully, "It's fine. Nature calls."

She pulled away, "Yeah…nature calls."

"So, we should get back and find Wenny before he starts to worry, and then we should go find some seats. I am sure that it is already packed." Stella said, she and Wen leading the way.

Much to everyone's chagrin, most of the night was pretty uncomfortable. As they found the stadium benches to sit in, Wen insisted that ladies should go first, but Charlie did not hear him and went anyway, which led to Stella and Olivia following. When they found a small corner to sit in, Wen had no choice but to sit next to Olivia. He didn't really find it as a problem, he was just afraid of Olivia's obvious distaste for him. As the ceremony wore on, he couldn't take the silence anymore, so he cracked a couple of jokes about the dean's but haircut and the cheesy openings. To his surprise Olivia giggled quietly a couple of times, but she did not dare look at him. Wen thought that her pity laughs were the best that he was going to get, so he did not initiate any further pursuance.

He tried to concentrate on Mo's big moment and the speeches, but sometimes he would catch himself glancing over at the girl next to him. She looked so beautiful in her simple summer dress and boots. He wanted so badly to at least be on speaking terms with her, but he did not want to make her angry, especially not in the middle of a graduation.

As the ceremony ended, they shuffled around the crowd to find Mo. Since there were so many people graduating from the arts program, it took a while to find her. Her parents had found her first, and had garnished her with a flowered lei, and a huge "Congrats Grad" balloon. When her smiling face found theirs, she ran to them and hugged them all, despite the obvious turmoil that had ensued. She went on to say that she couldn't believe that they had all come and that she was so happy to have them all in her life.

It made Wen feel extremely guilty that he had not been there like he should have lately.

Stella's graduation was much smaller, so it was easier to sit through for Wen since Olivia still insisted on giving him the cold shoulder. He again had managed finding a way of unintentionally sitting next to her, but at least this time he was prepared for the quietness from her.

When he wasn't focusing on Stella's classmates' speeches, or her walk to receive her diploma, he could help but imagine what it would be like if he and Olivia were friends again. He knew that he would be able to have any sarcastic remarks about the overdone graduation, or the pretentiousness of the class speaker, and she probably would have had an actual response or quip ready for him with a smile. Wen missed nothing more than those days where he could text her while she was sitting right next to him and she would giggle and nudge him for being so silly.

When Stella was found at the end of her ceremony, she had a similar response to Mo's about her appreciation for her friends and family. Her parents and brothers weren't far behind her as her mother checked her phone and apparently had to take such a life or death call. To negate Stella's sad and disappointed expression, Wen gave her a large embrace and told her that he had never been so proud of her. When she pulled away, Wen swore that he saw tears in her eyes.

When everyone had finished congratulating her, she caught the eye of another person, and said she would be right back while chasing after a tall boy with dark brown hair. Mo looked after her with a smirk and shook her head. Wen figured that he would find out later.

* * *

Stella and Mo's parents had rented out a room in a restaurant for their graduation party. A few of their friends from their schools had already arrived and were milling around making small talk. The girls in question were finishing up their make up in the bathroom. In the rush of things, beautification took a back seat. Stella looked over at Mo while she finished putting on her lip gloss.

"Can you believe that we are college graduates now?"

"Yeah I know. It is pretty insane right?" She said as she packed up her makeup.

Stella did the same, "I must say, I had a different path mapped out for our lives, but hey, nothing beats a college education, right?"

"Well, no. I am glad that we were able to go to school—so is my father—but that still doesn't mean that my other dreams are dead."

Stella looked over at her with an understanding expression, "Well let's make those dreams come true too."

Mo nodded as another person came in. They were about to wave her off before they saw that it was Olivia. She looked at them with an apologetic smile.

They all stood there for a few moments before Stella spoke, "Hey Liv! What are you doing here?"

Olivia stopped smiling and swallowed, "I am still invited to this party right?"

Stella looked at her with wide eyes and instantly explained, "No! Of course you are! That's not what I meant. I meant, what you are doing in the bathroom…actually I think I can figure that one out for myself. We'll leave you to your business."

She and Mo made to leave but Olivia stopped them, "Wait. You guys, I came in here to talk to you."

"Really? What's up?" Mo asked.

Her eyes met the floor for a few seconds before she found their gazes, "Look, I just want to say that I am so happy and proud of guys for accomplishing what you have—"

"We know you are Liv." Mo said as she rubbed her shoulder.

"Yeah, but I also want to say…" she paused as she looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey, you don't need to say this now, we can hear it later if you want." Stella explained.

Olivia vigorously shook her head, "No, I want to say this now," she said as she rubbed her eye with her hand, "I want to say that I am so, so sorry for everything. I am sorry for leaving you when I shouldn't have, and I am sorry for pushing you away," she cried as the tears came down, "I just hope that one day that you guys can forgive me for everything that I have done."

Stella walked over and grabbed her hands, "Oh, Liv. Of course we forgive you. You've done nothing wrong. In fact, _we_ are sorry for not being there for _you _when you needed us." She apologized as Mo agreed.

Olivia actually smiled, "You guys don't need to apologize for anything. It's fine."

They all looked at each other and momentarily embraced, "I just want us to be back where we used to be." Olivia said.

Stella smiled looked at Mo and Olivia, "I don't know about that."

Olivia just whispered some kind of apology saying that she understood. Stella caught her attention with a loud "Hey!"

Olivia met her eyes, "We can be in an even better place than before, okay?" Stella said reassuringly.

The blonde nodded and let out a sigh of relieve.

"Now let's go party!" Mo shouted as they all left the bathroom and entered the restaurant.

The party was nice enough complete with a cake and commemoration speeches from both sets of parents. The recognition that she accomplished something at least made Stella feel a little better. She felt a little guilty about shoveling alcohol down both Wen and Olivia's throats, but she couldn't take the silence, and she and Mo were paying for half this party, so they better get their money's worth.

She watched the two for some of the night. The fact that Wen had scooted closer to Olivia after Charlie went to the bathroom was a good sign, and her laughter was also leaning towards the more hopeful. Anything was better than what it was like towards the beginning of the party. As soon as the three girls left the bathroom, things became awkward. Wen and Charlie had greeted them with hugs and congratulations, which led to a sort of weird exchange between Olivia and Wen that ended in this uncomfortable side hug, and the rest of the gang internally face palming. Once everybody sat down, it was apparent that Wen wanted to sit next to the blonde, but she had another idea and wedged between Charlie and Mo. This was turning into a disaster. That is, until the drink menu came into fruition.

Well, if you had a look at them now, you would have never known that these two were once the most awkward display of emotions that Stella had ever seen, and she had seen some things. The laughter reassured Stella for the moment, so she could finally focus on other things. Like the other couple that was pretending that there was nothing going on. All of this matchmaking was making her head hurt. When would it ever end?

As her brothers thought it would be a good idea to experiment with the waiter's patience and making a new invention out of napkins and silverware—she thought that they only grew more immature with age, it was decided that the party should come to a close. Stella and Mo said goodbye to their parents and their other guests, the rest of the former band had stayed behind.

"Bye Alicia, thanks for coming!" Mo hugged her frequent classmate that still had one more semester left, "good luck with everything."

Alicia thanked Mo for inviting her and headed out the door. Mo made her way back to the room where everyone had been. Everyone was looking like they were having a good time. Even Wen and Olivia had loosened up. She looked over at Stella who had a devious look on her face. The girls nodded at each other and commenced with their plan. Stella got everyone's attention.

Olivia was the first to speak up, "Hey Stella?" She said with drink in hand.

Stella looked over at her friend, "Yes Olivia?"

"Who's this strange guy staring at the paintings?" She asked with her finger extended at the person she had never met before. Said person turned around with a smile and a wave.

Stella all of a sudden looked flustered, "Oh, him? He's just…he's just a—"

The stranger took the initiative and took Olivia's hand to shake it, "My name is Liam. I'm Stella's _boyfriend_."

Olivia stared at him wide eyed and then looked to Stella, "Oh my goodness, Stella! You didn't tell me that you had a boyfriend."

Liam held up his hand, "It's okay. Not a lot of people know about me. She keeps me in her closet most of the time and only lets me out for feedings and special occasions."

Olivia's already tipsy brain fell for the gag, "_Really_? Stella! Why didn't you tell me about your closet boyfriend?"

Stella was rendered speechless for a few moments before Liam walked over and put his arm around her and kissed her on the head, "It's okay. Now I've been a bad boy and she probably won't let me out until Christmas."

Wen looked at Liam and found him to be stunningly familiar. Where had he seen this guy before? He racked his brain for a few moments before he internally snapped his fingers and remembered that he was the guy that Stella was running towards at her graduation. It all made sense now; he must have just graduated too. Well, any guy that can make Stella temporarily speechless was alright in his book. He walked over to him to introduce himself.

Wen took his hand and shook it vigorously, "The name's Wen. Wen Gifford. I'm sure that Stella has just told you just _tons_ about me."

Liam looked at him and smiled, "Oh, yes. The weird kid with pale skin and freckles that somehow swindled his way into the band."

Wen looked shocked and glared at Stella, "Stella! Are you spreading rumors about me now? That I'm weird?" Olivia began to laugh that him being weird was the only thing that Wen was concerned about.

Liam laughed and hit him on the shoulder "I'm joking with you dude. All she has told me is about how awesome all of you guys are."

Wen then held his hand over his heart and went to give Stella a huge hug, "Oh, Stella. I knew that you loved us!"

Stella shoved Wen off of her and found her voice again, "Anyway," she said as she looked around at all of her best friends, "now that phase one of the night is over, now begins phase two."

Mo smiled at Charlie with a subtle grin as they knew what was coming next.

Olivia was just confused, "What are you talking about Stell?"

"I am saying that we are now all going out!" she screamed and then checked the time on her phone, "and if we don't leave now, we might miss the limo that's waiting outside."

"There's a limo! Ahhh!" Olivia yelled as she grabbed Wen's hand to lead him outside.

Stella and Mo exchanged a sly look and a high five when they made their way out of the restaurant, "I knew the alcohol would ease their nerves."

Liam came up behind Stella and put his arm around her, "You guys are just terrible."

Mo looked up at him, "What? We're only quickening the process a little."

Stella agreed with Mo and gave Liam a sweet smile, "It's inevitable. We might as well just let it happen."

"Whatever gets you to sleep at night." He said as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Come on love birds," Charlie teased as he snuck behind the couple and gave them a push into the limo, "Let's get this party started!"

They were all in good spirits as they rode the limo to their destination. The limo was complete with bottles of champagne to celebrate. Liam held up one of the bottles and astoundingly opened it without it spilling everywhere. Everyone got out their glasses as the champagne went around. Liam began his speech, "A toast, to the lovely Mo and beautiful Stella, may their academic bliss be eternally fruitful—"

"Oh my God, you're so cheesy." Stella scoffed.

Liam looked over at her raising his eyebrows, "Yeah, but you like it."

"Shut up!" She said, slapping his arm, "and anyway, you're being modest. You just graduated, too."

"Yeah, but who really cares about some guy we all just met?" He said, shrugged his shoulders.

"I do!" Charlie screamed from his place next to Mo. He scooted over to Liam and put his arm around him, "I like you; you really know your way around a champagne bottle."

Stella waved a hand at Charlie, "Eh, then you can keep him."

Charlie put on an excited expression, "Sweet! He'll make an awesome addition to my closet!"

"I can be very compact if need be. And I can open up as many champagne bottles as you want." He said enthusiastically.

"Hey! I want in on this!" Wen shouted, "who's gonna open up my bottles of champagne?"

"Hey, hey. We can work out a schedule, and I can be in all of your closets." He said jokingly.

The boys started working out a fake schedule. Mo began to laugh at their ridiculousness and realized that they were getting a bit off track, "Boys!" She yelled so they would all look at her, "I believe there was a toast going on in my honor. Could we get on with that?"

Liam straightened up as everyone raised their glasses, "Right, something about academic bliss blah blah blah, something cheesy in order to appease Stella," she glared at him from her place, "and to all of you. It's been wonderful meeting you."

And with that, they all clinked their glasses together, and the mood stayed jovial. Wen and Olivia were laughing with each other, and even Charlie and Mo seemed to be more outwardly flirty with one another. As they finally reached their destination, the bottle was completely gone.

Olivia turned to Stella as they all filled out of the limo, "What is this place Stella?"

She walked up to her and put her arm around her as they walked, "This, my fair lady, is the best dance club ever, and we," she said as she got closer to her ear, "have bottle service!"

Olivia gave her a disbelieving look, "Right, how were you able to do that?"

"Oh…I have my ways." She said ambiguously.

"You threatened them didn't you?"

"No! Of course not! Does that honestly sound like something that I would do?"

Olivia laughed historically, "Yes!"

"Hey, hey," she said defensively, "I might have used some strong language, but in the end people will listen to you if you have money."

"Are you paying for all of this?"

"Mostly." She stated nonchalantly.

"Are you serious! I have to help pay you back! This is way too much money."

"Shhhhhh!" Stella pushed, silencing her, "if I have learned anything from having a fugal father, it is to save everything you have, and going to community college really didn't put too much of a damper on my funds…I wanted to have a fun night with my best friends, and if I didn't think that I could handle this, then I wouldn't of put it all together. Just having a good time with each other is something that we haven't had in a long time."

Olivia gave her an appreciative glance. She was so thankful for her and her forgiving nature. She was more grateful for Stella then she would ever know, "Thank you."

"You can thank me by having a good time. Now come on, I put our names on the list."

Olivia gave her another shocked look.

Stella lifted a shoulder, "I can be very persuasive when I need to be."

The group entered the club with a minimal wait time. The action brought back many memories from when the band was in its prime. They often would go to fun places together after they turned eighteen. The media would sometimes find them, and they would have to go into hiding. She recalled this one instance when they were having a good time and were ready to go home. As they were leaving the club, they were so bombarded by paparazzi that Wen nearly took off his jacket and covered Olivia with it to keep her safe from impending pictures. They showed up in gossip magazines anyway and there were of course rumors spread around that she and Wen were together. Those stories always made her blush.

As they entered the club, Stella was led to the table where they were offered their bottle service. The champagne that they consumed had already made Olivia's start to spin. They brought over the drinks that Stella had requested: blueberry vodka and lemonade to mix it with. Everyone smiled at Stella as they realized what her drink choice was.

"Oh I see what you did there Yamada." Charlie said as the drinks were passed around to mix. Eventually, all of them had their drink in hand, and Mo said that she would prepare the toast.

"To us," she had to nearly yell over the music as she held up her glass, "and how we found each other again." It was a simple speech as they clinked their glasses together, but it got the message across. Mo was so thankful that she nearly wanted to cry.

A new song came on after they all had a swig of their beverages, and Olivia's face lit up. She grabbed Wen's arm and started to lead him to the dance floor, "I love this song! Wen, you have to dance with me."

"Well, if you insist." He said, trying to not sound too eager. As they came together, he wondered how Olivia could get him going so easily when her hips began to dig into him with much confidence. Wen was slowly starting to realize that this was a completely different Olivia. She became a new person when she started drinking; a person whose insecurities seemed to be nonexistent, and a person who also seemed to be much fonder of him. Wen couldn't really decide if he liked this side of her, or if it scared him. He loved Olivia when she was sober, and he wished that some of drunken Olivia's confidence would topple over into her normal state.

But right now, as she was so close to him and laughing while she was enjoying herself, he figured that he should take what he could get. It was better than the awkwardness that had ensued earlier.

One thing that he did want, however, more than anything else right now was to be happy with her again. For her in general to be happy again; he hated seeing her like this. He sincerely hoped that this time around, as they danced together in a drunken bliss, that there would be something that he could do to help her.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was feeling pretty happy as their blood alcohol content was steadily rising. Wen and Olivia were sitting at the table laughing together and counting how many times this poor guy they were watching could get rejected.

"Oh, that would _so _be me." Wen confessed as yet another girl pushed him away.

Olivia looked over at him in disbelieve, "What are you talking about? I was dancing with you!"

Wen waved her off, "You don't count."

She slapped his shoulder, "And why not?" He smiled at her and examined every inch of her stunning face. They had to have a very close proximity so they could hear each other over the loud music. His head was spinning as she was still waiting for an answer.

As Wen was about to say something, Mo and Charlie came over to rest from all of the dancing that they had been doing. Mo looked like she was extremely impatient about something, "Liv, will you go to the bathroom with me?" She asked as she was clearly about to burst, "I have to go so bad!"

"Of course Mo!" Olivia said as she stood up; they ran off to the nearest bathroom hand in hand. Wen and Charlie looked at one another and couldn't help but laughing.

"Like oh my God Wendell! Will you like go to the bathroom with me?" He said in a mock women's voice.

"Like of course Charles! Only if you will hold hands with me!" Wen teased in an equally squeaky voice.

They continued to laugh together. Some mysteries of women would never be answered for them.

"So uh, you and Olivia seem pretty close." Charlie insinuated as he waggled his eyebrows.

Wen nearly shoved him away, "Not as close as you and Mo, you little hypocrite."

Charlie was going to respond with something nasty when Stella and Liam returned to replenish their drinks. She looked at them with a devious grin, "You two look rather cozy."

Charlie laughed as he put his arm around Wen, "Well, you know, we didn't really want you to find out this way."

Wen played along and rested his head on Charlie's shoulder and let out a contented sigh. Stella scoffed and took another drink of her beverage, "Not surprised…now where are your women?"

They both began to regretfully blush and muttered some kind of response on their location. Stella shook her head on how easily she could fluster them, "Alright, is it cool if we get going soon? I am starving and want some pizza or something."

"Or some Dell Taco." Liam suggested as he stood over Stella.

She turned around gleefully and nodded vigorously, "Yeah! That sounds amazing! Do you think we could fit a limo into a drive through?"

Liam grinned, "Well, I think that this is an excellent time to find out."

The couple came together in a sloppy kiss, leading to the other two boys pretending to vomit.

Stella turned to them and shouted, "Don't be hatin cause you're jealous."

That sure shut them up.

* * *

The limo driver was very adamant about not driving his precious limo through a fast food restaurant line. Stella began yelling at him out of anger and frustration.

"Look, bro. I will pay you double!" She yelled as she rolled down the partition that separated the back and front sections of the vehicle.

The driver let out a very winded sigh as he faced Stella. His mustache was practically shaking, "I don't think you understand lady! I physically _cannot_ fit this thing through a tiny drive through."

"Whatever, you just don't have the skills." Stella said as she waved him off.

The driver looked like he had some choice words for the guitarist, but Liam intervened before things got ugly, "Why don't we just go inside?"

Stella turned to him with an annoyed expression, "Fine."

She practically ran to the glass doors as the rest of the group filed out of the limo. Unfortunately, she came to quickly find that the doors were locked. Stella began to bang on them as the employees gestured at the drive through. Mo figured out their hand motions, "Stell, I think only the drive through is open right now."

"Nooo!" She yelled and seized her assault on the doors, "all I want is a fucking taco! What is wrong with this world?!"

They were all silent for a few moments before Stella spoke up again, "Hey, could we walk just walk through drive through?"

Charlie nearly laughed, "No, I am pretty sure that that's illegal."

"Fuck it all." Stella said under her breath.

Wen began to think of another solution for a few moments, "Why don't we just wait for someone to drive through and ask them if they will buy us food?"

Stella raised her eyebrows and gave Wen a giant hug, "Oh my God Wendell! You're a freaking genius!"

"I try." He shrugged.

"Let's just hope they're trust worthy." Liam stated as they began to wait.

After a few minutes, Olivia leaned her head on Wen's shoulder and sighed. It make Wen's stomach lurch in the best possible way. He held in a contended sigh.

It was clear that the limo driver was fed up with the group's antics, "Hey!" He shouted from his place in the parking lot, "what the hell are you doing?"

As Stella was about to respond no doubt with an angry response, a car pulled up with two girls in the front. Stella frantically waved them down. Surprisingly, they stopped and rolled down the window. The driver spoke up, "Yes?"

"Hey," Stella started as she leaned on the door, "can you guys do me the most awesomest favor in the world?"

The driver raised one eyebrow and cocked her head, initiating Stella to elaborate, "Can you guys like let me get some food? I will totally give you money."

The passenger almost laughed at the clearly inebriated girl's actions, "Why?"

Stella smiled and motioned to the limo, "Because that mother fucker over there won't drive us through, and the restaurant is closed."

It was lucky that the girls just found this to be funny instead of annoying. The driver laughed, "Yeah, sure. That's fine."

"Oh my God really? You guys are like the best people ever. Hold on, let me get everyone's order!" Stella practically screamed. As she took everyone's order, she found that it would just be easier to pop into the back seat of the gracious girls' car. She rolled down the back window, "Let me handle this guys. I got this."

Liam was having none of it, "Oh no you don't." He stated as he opened the door and slid in.

"Oh, you're so protective." She scoffed as the girls pulled forward.

"Only when I need to be." He responded. One to admit that he really had a way with Stella's rambunctious nature.

"What? Do you think these girls are just going to drive away and murder me?" She asked accusingly.

The girl in the passenger seat giggled, "Oh, that's so cute! He is just looking out for you, hun."

"Whatever." She sulkily stated as the employee at the other end of the speaker asked what they wanted. It was quite an ordeal ordering so much food, but it was eventually over with as the girls drove away laughing at the duo of Liam and Stella. Stella told them that they were the most amazing and beautiful girls that had ever graced the planet and happily took their food.

The group sat outside on the curb of the Dell Taco and ate their meals ravenously.

"You know," Stella stated as she dug into her food, "I think that this is the best fucking taco that I have ever had."

There was a unanimous agreement throughout the rest of the former band.

* * *

The group collectively decided that they were all going to stay over at Stella's place for the night. After finishing what was potentially the best meal of their young lives on the street curb, they supposed it was time to call it a night. Stella apologized to the driver, something about being a bitch when she was hungry, and he was on his way with his fake smile and a pay check.

Everyone seemed to be stumbling in their place as Stella got out her keys to open the door, and not a moment too soon before Olivia began passing out on Wen's side. Everything became irrelevant by that point for him, for now what was most important was getting Olivia safe onto the couch or something. He would gladly sleep on the floor next to her.

As everybody disappeared into his peripheral vision, Wen had to nearly carry Olivia to Stella's couch in her living room. She was giggling about something unidentifiable as he lied her down and found the nearest blanket to cover her with. The subject of her laughter became a little bit more of a concern for Wen when she was still grinning as he sat down on the floor. Their faces were very close when he leaned in.

"Now what is so funny?" He whispered while trying to capture her gaze.

Her eyes met his as he covered her mouth with her hand. She tried to act innocent, "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

"I highly doubt that." He retorted, laughing at her ridiculousness. This was exactly the kind of thing that he missed about their friendship.

She merely shrugged and they were silent for a few moments. Olivia looked around the room for some reason, and then found Wen's stare again. Before he even realized what she was doing, she reached a hand out to his face and began to caress his lips. He honestly did not know how to respond to this. Was he supposed to reciprocate it? Was he supposed to just let her finish? Was he supposed to kiss her? He hated these mixed signals.

"You know, Wendell," Olivia whispered, tearing him from his thoughts as she pulled her hand away, "you are an amazing kisser."

Wen was too shocked for a few moments to respond, "You…you remember kissing me?"

She giggled again in an adorable way. It made his insides turn if they weren't already having a frenzy, "Of course I do! Why wouldn't I silly?"

"It's just because…I thought that you didn't have any recollection considering your alcohol consumption that night and your reaction in the morning."

"You think too much." She stated, turning away from him and yawning.

"You're always saying that." Wen said making sure that the pillow behind her head was secure enough.

"Muurrumph." Olivia mumbled incoherently.

"What was that?" Wen asked before he soon realized that she had clearly fallen asleep. Damn, he really wished that he could have finished that conversation.

He cut his losses and turned away from her and rested his head on the arm rest.

"Wendell!" Stella nearly screamed as she attacked him from out of nowhere. She gave him a hug on the floor and buried her face in his neck, "I love you so much man. And I really missed you when you were gone for so long."

It was not very often that one would hear such an honest confession from Stella Yamada. Wen returned the hug and smiled, "I love you too Stell," he told her, feeling more guilty by taking in her words, "I am really sorry about being so distant."

She untangled from him and looked at him with hopeful eyes. Wen had to hold back a chuckle as he took in her appearance. An inebriated look on her face complete with an over-sized t shirt and no makeup. It was really the stare that she had on that had him entertained.

"You mean it? Because I don't think that I could take losing you or Liv again. I would be soooo sad. Seriously, don't do that to me again."

Wen wanted to go on about how sorry he was and how guilty he felt about all of it, but he didn't think that either of them were in any sort of condition for such a heart to heart; that was for another time. Before he could find the right words to say, Stella started to say something else.

"Olivia told me that she thought that it was fate that brought us all together again," Stella said as she was clearly intoxicated, hiccupping in her place, "maybe it is."

Liam came out of Stella's room with his own pajama's on. He walked over to them and crossed his arms.

"Stell, are you harassing Wen while he is trying to go to sleep?"

"Pshhh, of course not! Wen and I are having a very important conversation."

"What is it about?" He asked, approaching the two on the floor.

"That is none of your business!" She exclaimed, crossing her own arms while looking accomplished.

Liam faced her and smiled, "Hmm. I guess that is a valid point," he then looked to Wen, "Wendell, are you enjoying your conversation with Stella?"

"Well of course." He answered, sitting up a little bit straighter. Why were so many people using his full name tonight?

"That's wonderful." Liam stated as the trio said nothing for a period of time.

Stella brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on one of them.

Whatever Liam was trying to discover was at a standstill, so he took action, "Right." He said as he stood up and grabbed Stella off the ground. He threw her over his shoulder and began to walk towards her bedroom. She started to beat his back and yell in protest, but he paid her resists no mind, "let the man slumber in peace."

Wen began to laugh as he heard Stella nearly growl when he shut the door. It took him a couple of moments to take his mind back to what Stella had just confessed to him.

Huh.

Fate.

Wen thought about it as he drunkenly leaned next to Olivia on the floor. He looked at her and smiled.

That is the damndest thing.

* * *

When Wen awoke the next morning, or it could have been late afternoon, he came to find that his phone was dead and Olivia was gone. He frantically began to look around and started to get a sense of déjà vu, so instead of hyperventilating, he decided that it was probably a better idea to just look around for her instead of assuming the worst. After searching the bathroom and the kitchen, he found her on the balcony, just watching the city. At the moment, he again was at a loss at what to do. Could he put his arm around her without her protest? What about slowly leaning in and complementing her kissing abilities as well? He settled on resting his hands next to hers on the guard rails and looking out in the same direction as her.

She almost looked startled when he approached her, but then settled again. She spoke after a few seconds, "This is a beautiful view."

What was this? Was she starting a pleasant conversation with him without any alcohol in her system? Maybe she was still a bit drunk, "Yeah, it is," he didn't want to look at her as he said those words at the risk of appearing extremely cheesy, "so…crazy night last night huh?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "Yeah, I don't really remember the last part of it."

Wen turned his head towards her in shock, "You don't?"

"No. Nothing really after Dell Taco. Why, did I do something embarrassing?" She asked with an uncomfortable expression.

Wen's eyes widened, "What? No! Of course not…you just went to the couch and passed out."

"Then why were you lying next to me?"

He shrugged his shoulders and tried to seem nonchalant, despite his disappointment, "I didn't really have anywhere else to go."

At that she returned her gaze back to the view, "Oh, okay."

There was an awkward silence for brief period of time before Wen worked up the courage to ask his next question, "So do you remember everything from the other night?"

She didn't look at him, "No, not really. Everything is kind of a blur after I met up with you again at the other bar." Her tone was unreadable.

Alright, were they just not going to discuss her obvious lie? Were they not going to talk about the fact that they woke up half naked together? What about her kicking him out in the morning? Well, the fact that she was speaking to him at all was a miracle.

"Oh, okay." Wen said as he tried his hardest not to sound disappointed.

"Why? Did something else happen?"

"No, pretty much the same thing." Wen spit out. He hoped that she didn't pick up on the bitterness in his voice.

There was another silence. Wen felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey, do you think you could drive me home? I really need to be getting back." Olivia asked as her eyes still didn't meet his.

Wen took a few moments to respond, "Yeah, my car is still at the restaurant, but that is just a short walk from here."

As they bid their quick goodbyes, Wen began to wonder why now all of a sudden Olivia decided to start talking to him again. Was this hope for the future?

It wasn't. If their walk back to the car was any indication, the two were far from patching things up. The awkwardness of it all was seething through Wen's self confidence, and he couldn't help but reminisce on times when they would just walk around just for the hell of it. This was before they got their driver's licenses of course, but it was still a time that Olivia would literally stop and look at the flowers, and drag Wen along when she found something to be "interesting."

Wen looked over at the girl walking next to him now. This was not the same girl.

Finally, after about ten agonizing minutes, they reached his car.

The car ride back to Olivia's place was not any better, if not more silent. He tried to find the right words to say, but they honestly would not come to him. What could he really say anyway; would she really want to hear it?

Was this what it was going to be like from now on? Awkwardness until the booze starts flowing. Wen didn't know how much more he could really take.

They finally arrived at her apartment, and for some reason—a force of habit really—Wen got out of the car and walked her to her doorstep. She probably did not want to be around him anymore.

He sort of just gave her a nod and began to walk away.

"Wen," Olivia said quietly.

Wen turned to her slowly and faced her, saying nothing, urging her to continue.

"I-I am sorry that I don't remember the other night…"

"It's fine Olivia, don't worry about it." Wen said from the bottom of the footsteps. Olivia began to descend them in order to get closer to him. Well, this was certainly strange.

"But I don't think you were being truthful when you told me that nothing happened." She reached the bottom step. She was so short that they were eye to eye since he was on the ground. Their faces were close.

Wen rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I…I—"

"Come on Wen. I woke up practically naked next to you. What, did we decide to strip down to our underwear just for fun?"

"Well, no…" This was all so confusing. Why would she admit to enjoying his kisses last night, and now she had no idea?

"But I just want to let you know that whatever happened," she said in a tone that almost seemed seductive. He could have been hallucinating of course, or only hearing what he wanted to, but either way, it got his attention. He met her gaze, "was a mistake."

That knife that seemed to be ever present in his heart just twisted itself again. Wen tried his best to pull it together, "Right, yeah. That makes sense." Did his voice just crack? This wasn't humanely fair.

Olivia looked down at her shoes and back up at him, "But I want you to know that I am _really_ sorry for the way I acted that morning by just throwing you out…in all honesty, I freaked out. I haven't seen you in so long…I just didn't know what to do." Well, in all honesty, she did sound sincere.

Wen took a couple deep breaths to keep from falling apart. He hated feeling so emotional all the time, "It's fine Olivia, I understand…I guess I'll just be going now."

He took what was supposed to be a very short walk to his car, but it felt like an eternity. Just before he was about to open his door, he heard his name again.

"Wen! Hold on, please." Olivia shouted from her place. She ran to him and wore a confused expression.

"What?" Wen said, trying to mask the anger from his voice.

"I know that I can't be _that_ girl for you but," she explained as Wen noticed that she was actually tearing up, "but I just can't do this anymore."

It was the mother of all mixed signals, "Do what?"

She aggressively wiped her tears away and let out a short breath, "This." She motioned between the two of them. Wen was still very confused with furrowed eyebrows.

Olivia noticed his expression and shook her head, "No, what I mean is this. You. Me. Not being friends. The awkwardness. The silence. I just can't take it anymore. I miss you. I really want my best friend back."

Wen had to suppress a laugh, "You were the only one who couldn't take it?"

"Well, I just thought that you were mad at me…I didn't know what to do."

Wen was actually starting to feel frustrated. What the hell did she want? "_You're _the one who pulled away from me. _You're_ the one who kicked me out. I just don't understand what you want."

He opened the door of his car a little too hard and nearly tore the whole thing off before he even let Olivia explain herself. He turned the key into the ignition and almost ran over a lady walking her dog right in front of him. As he pulled away, he looked in his rearview mirror. Olivia still hadn't moved.

To hell with her. She was so indecisive and fickle. Who's to say that the next time that they got drunk that she wouldn't be all over his junk again, and then this whole plutonic thing would be thrown out the window. What the fuck? What was her problem? How could she just—

Holy.

Fuck.

He was an idiot.

He slammed on the brakes and made an illegal u-turn.

Wen realized that he was too busy throwing a pity party that he never even considered her feelings. _He _was the problem. _He _was the insensitive one. Why would she to be with him right now if she had no desire to? Wen couldn't blame her for that. She was probably just lost and confused and lonely; therefore, she didn't know what to do with herself once she started to drink alcohol.

He parked in the same place while nearly hitting the curb. While in such a rush, he almost forgot to pull his key out and turn the car off. He didn't even remember if he closed the door.

That's not really what mattered now anyway. He ran up the steps and began to pound on her door. Wen prayed to all that was holy that she would answer the door and forgive him for being so blind.

After a minute or so, Olivia answered the door with tears flowing down her cheeks. It was obvious that she was holding back a sob, "What?" He could tell that she was upset and angry.

The worst part was that he caused this. He was the sole reason why she was so upset. Wanting to punch himself was not even close to the punishment that he thought that he deserved. Instead of starting with a stuttering apology, he just captured her into a hug.

While he held her close, she was still trying not to openly cry into his chest.

"I miss my best friend too," he began, knowing his words would never come close to making it up to her, "and I am so sorry."

Neither of them really knew how long they stood there for, but all Wen wanted to do was make sure that she was alright.

Olivia finally pulled away and continued to stare at the floor, "It's okay…I just thought that you were angry with me."

Wen also looked at the floor to try to find what she found so interesting, "Well maybe I was," there was a loud sniffle from Olivia, "but I had no reason to be…you're right, and I am an idiot."

He saw a ghost of her smile come back, "You _are_ an idiot."

Wen also smiled and held his heart, "Whoa, kick a man while he is down."

She just giggled in that way again which made Wen realize that he had no idea how he was going to do this.

But he would have to find a way.

* * *

"So we're doing this again? We're really in it for the long haul?" Stella asked everyone in Mo's apartment. She had called everyone together for an emergency meeting. Everyone looked at her with lost expressions. She hadn't really told them what they were there for, but she figured that they would get the point, "Guys! I mean, are we really back together?"

"What do you mean by back together?" Mo asked in air quotes.

"Do you mean that we're all friends again?" Wen also asked with conviction.

No one had really addressed the fact that they were all together again in a normal and not awkward setting. Apparently Wen and Olivia had made up, which was not only good for them, but it was wonderful for everyone else. Finally, no one had to feel uncomfortable or like they were out of place.

Well, except for the fact that Wen was faking his smile most of the time and was living under a happy façade. This was at least what Stella was observing; she had no idea if anyone else could see it.

"Well it's not only that…" Stella began with a guilty countenance, "it's also…I was thinking that we could start to play together again."

There was silence for a while. So that's what this was all about; they should have known.

"I-I don't know Stella…isn't it a little too soon?" Olivia stuttered.

"Of course it's not! There is no time like the present right?" Stella accused. She really hoped she wasn't the only one who was for this idea.

Charlie didn't even seem to hesitate, "I'm down."

Stella looked at him gratefully. Mo spoke up as well, "Yeah, I would like that."

The guitarist then looked to Wen, who looked to Olivia and back to her, "I guess I am game for that. It only seems right."

Now there was only one person left, "Olivia?" Stella asked hopefully.

The blonde began to bite a nail and took a minute or so to respond, "Well, I suppose that would be alright."

Stella clapped her bands together, "Prefect! Now, let's go."

Olivia looked at her confusedly, "What? Where are we going?"

Stella crossed her arms with a sly smile, "Oh, you'll see, but we need to go like now."

Barely obeying, the group followed her in pursuit outside of the apartment, and down the stairs. On the street, there was another limo, which was apparently waiting for them judging by the fact that she was walking towards it and opening the door, "Our chariot awaits."

While kind of just going along with her antics, the former band filed into the vehicle. There was silence for a few moments while the car pulled away from the curb and started to drive towards their destination.

"Uh…are you going to tell us where we are going?" Charlie asked, which was of course what everyone was wondering.

"In good time, my fine fellow, in good time." Stella said mysteriously. She refused to reveal any further details along their ride. They all knew it had to be something big, however, with an entrance like this.

When they had finally arrived, Wen felt like the place had looked very familiar, but he tried to push those thoughts aside.

But he couldn't, really, as they entered the building and he saw the all too familiar hallways.

"Stella, just what the hell do you think that you are doing?" Wen asked as it looked like everyone else was catching on, "Why are we here?"

"I should think that that would be obvious now."

It couldn't be. They couldn't be in the studio where they used to hold many of their interviews back in the day. Had she gone mad?

As on cue, Moxie Morris seemed to have come out of nowhere and congratulated them "I can't believe that you guys are back together after all of these years! And on my show! This is so exciting!"

She was nearly screaming as it took a couple of uncomfortable minutes to get her to go away, and for them to shuffle into an empty dressing room led by Wen.

He slammed the door and everyone was looking at Stella for some kind of answer. She really didn't get the drift and tried to look innocent, "What?"

Wen was flabbergasted, "Are you insane Stella?"

She still feigned ignorance, "I really don't see what the problem is."

"When you mentioned us getting back together, this is definitely not what I thought you meant!" Wen yelled at her, throwing his hands in the air.

"But we all agreed! And our old manager has been pestering me for months for at least some kind of resolution. I thought this would be perfect for our reunion."

"What—"

"Wen, calm down…let's try to assess the situation." Mo said patiently.

"What's there to assess?! Stella is—"

"_Stella_ is just trying to hold us all together." Mo said with determinacy.

She looked at the rest of the room and was looking for answers. Olivia was staring at the ground and Charlie didn't take his eyes off of Mo. He spoke up with a clear of his throat, "I don't think it's such a bad idea."

"Are you serious Charlie? What do you think that this is going to accomplish? What do you think—"

"Shut up Wen!" Stella shouted as she grew more frustrated; she went back to Olivia, who still had her gaze to the ground, "Liv?"

Her head whipped around to Stella, eyes wide open, "Yes?"

"How do you feel about all of this?" She asked cautiously.

She was silent for a couple of moments before she responded, "When you said we should get back together, I thought that you meant a couple of practices, maybe even a few small gigs…but this, this all seems so sudden…I don't know."

Finally, someone was on Wen's side.

Stella walked over to the blonde and put her arm around her shoulder, "If you really don't want to do this, that's fine. We can walk out of this building right now and leave…but if you think that there is the slightest chance that we can really be something again, please come out there with us. We are nothing without our front woman."

Olivia began to face everyone around the room and ended on Wen. When she looked into his eyes, Wen couldn't place her expression, "A-alright."

"Yeah!" Stella shouted.

Everybody started to celebrate, except for Wen, "Wait! What about my opinion?"

"Oh come on, Wen. Don't be such a wet blanket!" Charlie teased.

It seemed that everyone was waiting on his response. He just sat there for a bit, thinking over his possibilities, "Ugh! Fine!" He grunted as he stormed out of the room.

Stella thought that this was going to be a great start to their new beginning.

The interview itself started out as normal. There was a live studio audience, which made Wen nervous for Olivia, but then he realized that he was being too protective and that she was an adult.

The beginning questions were routine: what all of them had been doing and such. Where they had been in the last few years. There was a loud roar from the crowd that when it had been discovered that Mo and Stella had just graduated college.

When things turned more to focus on their love lives as of lately, things got a little bit more awkward.

"So, what is going on with all of your dating situations? I bet all of your old fans are dying to know." Moxie asked with an innocent grin. Her stare was quite obviously directed at Wen and Olivia.

Wen felt like his heart had given out and that he hadn't drunken anything in three years as his throat had gone completely dry. How was he supposed to tell the world that Olivia had rejected him openly? And on more than one occasion, too. He began to cough loudly. God, this was so embarrassing. How did he not see this coming?

"Actually Moxie, Stella is the only one who has a steady relationship right now." Mo, Wen's current savior, said to distract from he and Olivia. She must have caught on to Wen's uncomfortable response.

Moxie took the bait, "Really, Ms. Yamada! I never thought I would see the day!"

Stella gave her a kind of defended expression, "Uh…thanks?"

"Oh, it's no offense, Stella, I just always pictured you as an independent kind of girl! Good for you!"

"Excuse me, but just because I am in a relationship does not mean that I have lost my independence, I—"

"Stella, I wasn't trying to imply anything I was just—"

Wen began to laugh to himself as he realized that the topic of relationships always seemed to make Stella lose her composure.

"No, it's fine, I understand. I just want everyone to know that I am still the same girl, and I am not just some submissive—"

"It's true. She still kicks my butt on the regular." A voice said from the studio audience, stopping Stella's rant completely.

Stella gave some sort of frightened expression as it was obvious who the voice belonged to.

"What is this we have here? Can we get the cameras on whoever that was?" Moxie said excitedly. This was probably very juicy gossip for her.

The crew directed themselves towards Liam, who just gave a simple wave to the cameras with a smile. Moxie looked over at Stella with a satisfied smirk on her face, "Is that your boyfriend Stella?"

Stella didn't want her to win this one, "Yes it is. His name is Liam," she said in a tone that told Moxie that she was still in charge. She wasn't going to lose her poise like that again on national television, "hey baby!" She waved at him.

Liam nodded at Stella, "Sup?"

Stella smiled at him and then back at their interviewer.

Moxie also gave Stella a fake smile and motioned for the cameras to face her again, "Well isn't this a surprise?"

Stella shrugged her shoulders and leaned back into her chair, "It's whatever…so can we talk about our music now?"

Moxie didn't want Stella to direct the conversation, but she figured that it was a good topic to jump to, "Yes, so tell me about your current projects now guys. The world hasn't seen you in a while, and I am sure that they are eager to know what is going on."

Stella looked to the rest of them as she felt like she was doing most of the talking. Surprisingly, Charlie took the reins, "Well Moxie, we are just sort of taking things slow for now. Maybe we will do a couple of reunions gigs here and there. Testing out the waters. That sort of thing."

"_Really_, because it was just confirmed that you were going to do another tour around the country. Fans are _very _excited about that."

Charlie tried not to look too surprised as the rest of the group looked at Stella, "Why yes. That's what I meant…"

Moxie smiled and clapped her hands, "Well then on that note, I am sure that everyone here would love to hear a song from you guys right now!"

The back curtain opened up to reveal a complete ensemble of instruments for everyone to play. Mo and Charlie looked at each other as Wen and Olivia found that Stella was smiling at the floor mischievously. She then looked to Moxie, "Yes, I think that we would like nothing more."

Stella got out of her chair and beckoned the rest of the group to join her. She was the first to strap her guitar over her shoulder as everyone else confusedly followed her lead. As no one really knew what to do, Stella rolled her eyes and started to play an old song of theirs. It was like she had to spoon feed everyone.

The rest of them started to play their own instruments, and Olivia began to sing the lyrics. Everything was a little hesitant at first, but when the chorus commenced, something changed. They were all hooked, like it was old times again. Olivia opened up on stage, and felt like she hadn't in a long time.

There was always something about the group when they played together. The audience even seemed to fade away and it was like they were back in their high school basement. It was a rush to say the least.

It felt like home.

* * *

At the end of the interview, they were released to backstage so they could change and go home. Liam met up with them and congratulated them on a wonderful performance. He grabbed Stella into a hug, and she pulled away and punched him in the arm for making her look so ridiculous on television. Their bantering began, and everyone else took that as their cue to leave. Olivia joked with Wen and told him that she had such a great time, despite her nerves.

No one even mentioned anything about not wanting to on tour. Stella figured that her plan had worked perfectly.

* * *

Wen went home that night feeling elated and unfortunately feeling wobegone. It was going to take a while getting used to Olivia's rejection, but he wasn't going to ruin the group's new found dynamics because he was heartbroken. He was just going to have to get over it. That was final.

Wanting to get his mind off of things, he turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until he found something satisfactory. He landed on a rerun episode of _South Park_.

Man, he always loved this show. He remembered that he used to make Olivia watch it with him sometimes, and she would actually laugh at it every once in a while, even though she would try to hide it.

"I always hated this show." A voice said behind him, breaking him from his stupor of the episode he was watching.

Wen jumped up and whipped his head around to see who the culprit was. He wanted to jump again when he saw her.

It was Lyla.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I should think that it's obvious."

Wen raised his eyebrows and looked at her for an answer, "No…"

She came around the couch and sat very close to him. Then, she rolled her eyes and turned off the TV.

Smiling at him, she looked very inviting and seductive, but Wen was still confused, "I still don't really know what's going on."

"Don't play dumb Wen. Come on, I know you can figure it out." She said, leaning even closer to him.

Was this a dream or something? Had he fallen asleep without even realizing it? Wen's silence and stillness probably gave Lyla the queue to elaborate.

"Look, Wendell. I made a mistake. I shouldn't have walked out on you. You were the best man I ever had," she began to smile at him again and barely brushed her lips with his, "and I want you back." She whispered. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before she smashed their mouths together.

Wen actually went along with it for a couple of seconds, loving the contact and the feel. He was lonelier than he thought.

But when he really realized what she was doing, he realized how wrong it all felt.

"Whoa, Lyla, we can't be doing this." He screeched, getting off the couch and far away from her. He ran a hand through his hair.

She stood up with him and walked a couple of steps to close the space in between them, "And why not? You haven't found someone else already have you?"

Wen continued to take steps backwards as she did forwards, "N-no…I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Give me one good reason why." She had backed him against a wall with her body pressed against him. He couldn't take much more of this.

"Because," he stated, finding his will again and pushing her off of him, "you can't just barge in here and think that I will just take you back."

She actually looked defeated for the first time for a mere second, "I guess I assumed that you would at least forgive me. Or at least, that was the Wen that I used to know."

"Oh come on, don't play that card with me." Wen grunted as he crossed his arms.

Lyla then sighed and finally let down her walls and her seductive approach, "You're right. I am sorry…for everything."

She walked over and sat back down on the couch in a huff. Wen saw her vulnerabilities and felt guilty; he came and sat down next to her.

"I am sorry too. I didn't want things to end the way they did."

She wanted him to meet her gaze. When he did, he looked into her dark green eyes for the first time. He took in her curly blonde hair and remembered how he fell in love with her. Their relationship was healthy for a while, before he started all of his self hate and dethatched from the world. They used to have fun together. Sometimes going out and seeing local bands with Charlie, or sometimes staying in while he would try to cook for her.

He used to sing that Oasis song "Hey Lyla" to her whenever she got upset.

She stopped smiling after a while.

Wen finally recognized that it actually was his fault that it all fell apart. No wonder she left.

"Things don't have to end like this Wen." She said quietly and sincerely.

Wen found her gaze again and saw that he had to give her an answer. Well, why couldn't he be happy with her? Olivia only wanted to be friends. How was he supposed to go on a tour with Olivia if he wasn't over her?

And here was a perfect solution staring at him right in the face, just begging for an answer, a chance.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he kissed her, just to feel _something_. He felt like he was sinking like a stone in the sea more and more every day, just gasping for air, and he could not take this lack of feeling, this numbness, anymore. She was familiar, something that he already knew. Maybe he didn't feel as right or as natural, but maybe one day, he could.

* * *

_Lawrd, after a while I didn't even want to look at this anymore since I read through it so many times!_

_I hope that it was all good for you guys, and you don't want to murder me too much for taking so long._

_Of course, thank you to everyone who added this to their favs and such! And thank you to Thokul, Readingcutie428, Madison7061, and ausllylovexo for reviewing!_

_I want to give an extra thanks to hphannah for your feedback; I do appreciate that you let me know these things about the story. Believe me, I am always that person who is like "Oh, the book is sooo much better than the movie." I had heard that the book was good, and I will really try to get around to reading it. I want this story to be realistic._

_Thanks for reading!_


	6. Call Me a Safe Bet, I'm Betting I'm Not

_Hey hey hey. I am so proud of myself for actually finishing this in a reasonable amount of time; you know, for me. _

_Like I said before in the previous AN, this will probably be the last update for a while. I really can't write during the school semester, but it will be over in a little over a month—eek, that's a scary thought._

_Without further ado, chapter six!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing nothing nothing._

* * *

In all honesty, it was not bad feeling, waking up and knowing there was someone there. Wen had just woken up from a particularly harrowing dream in which Olivia was trying to stab him with a scalpel, but from that, he looked over and felt comfort in seeing Lyla's sleeping form.

They actually had quite a great relationship before he pulled away from all of humanity. She unknowingly came crashing into his life and made him feel for the first time in a long time. Every time he was with her, he felt a little less numb.

At first, he did feel a little guilty. Moving on from Olivia—a feet he previously never thought possible—but she had made it clear what her stance was on the group; she wanted nothing to do with any of them. Lyla breathed life back into him, and he felt happy.

He remembered back when he first met Lyla. Charlie and Wen had decided to check out a local band to get a sense of the good old days at a nearby venue. The band actually was not too bad, but the place was pretty crowed, making Wen feel extremely claustrophobic in their tiny booth the back. He and Charlie had switched off who was buying the next round, and it was his turn yet again.

Charlie had harassed him about it until he finally stood up and made his way to the bar. He crossed the crowed venue with much determinacy, and almost ran into this girl who was dancing by herself. As he tried to make his way around her, she threw both of her hands in the air with a valiant "Woooo!"

She spilled her drink all over Wen. It took him a couple seconds to decipher the situation before she turned around and started drunkenly apologizing, "Oh my God! I am so so," she stumbled back a little, "so so sorry!"

He had to shout in order for her to hear him, "It's alright I guess. I wasn't a fan of this shirt anyway."

Although it was very frustrating, Wen knew that there was no malicious intent behind her actions. She was just a drunk girl who had definitely reached her limit. His calming persona had reached his limit when she opened her mouth to say something else, but instead threw up all over the front of his shirt.

"That didn't give you an open invitation to throw up all over it!" Wen yelled as many of the people around them stopped and began to stare.

She looked as if she was about to sob, another thing Wen could not handle at the moment.

"Oh my God," another voice sounded as Wen unfortunately looked down at his clothing, "are you serious Karen? I leave you alone for two seconds and this is where I find you?"

Wen glanced upwards and saw that another girl had joined them. Karen turned to her friend and began to cry at her situation and claimed that she was sorry and that everyone hated her. Her friend spoke up, "Everyone does not hate you. I am sorry for getting angry, but you better watch where your puke is going."

Wen snorted at her comment as she grabbed Karen's hand and began to lead her outside. Wen was completely taken aback that she had absolutely disregarded his wellbeing, given that her friend had completely desecrated his shirt and ego. He began to stomp after seeing that she understood the ramifications of her friend's actions.

Charlie had met up with him and was laughing hysterically as he trailed behind Wen, "Dude, that was probably one of the funniest things that I have ever seen!"

Wen stopped in his tracks and turned around to glare at him, "You mean to tell me that you saw the whole thing happen and you did _nothing_?"

"Oh come on, what could I have really done? Been a human shield?"

Wen just grunted and made his way outside to find those girls. He found them approaching a car and yelled after them, "Hey!"

Wen honestly did not think the situation through as he was mostly just angry. The sober one turned around and had an annoyed expression, "Yes?"

Karen began to stumble and her friend turned to try and support her. Charlie stepped in and put his arm around the intoxicated girl.

Wen was still seeing red, "Are you seriously going to do anything about this?"

The girl took a couple of steps away from Charlie and Karen and closed the distance between her and Wen, "Look, I am really sorry that she vomited all over you, but my top priority right now is getting her home safe."

Her tone sounded a little urgent and terse, but Wen still wanted to throw himself a pity party, "But she completely destroyed my shirt! Now I am going to have to take about fifty showers before it seeps into my skin."

She cut him off by holding out her hand, "Just give me your shirt."

Wen's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Well you're forward, aren't you?"

She shook her head with a ghost of a smile and persisted, "Just give it to me."

It was of course the night he had decided to not wear an undershirt, but for some reason he found himself obeying her, and gingerly began to remove the soiled clothing from his body. He realized how whiny he must have sounded.

She grabbed it from him and unlocked her car. After grabbing a water bottle from the back seat, she started to pour it all over the front in hopes that it would remove some of the sick. She diligently tried to get every crevice with the liquid, and when it looked like she was satisfied, shook it vigorously.

Wen took it from her and still found it to smell disgusting, "That's the best you can do?" He teased.

"I don't have a lot of resources here buddy."

Karen almost fell over again as Charlie tried to stabilize her. Wen all of a sudden felt a pang in his chest and felt guilty for tracking them down. He completely lost his argument, "I am sorry…I just—"

She came up to him very closely and smiled, taking out a pen and writing on his hand, "Call me if you want me to take it to the drycleaners."

Wen had a hard time reacting to the situation as she turned around and told Karen to get into the car. He finally took in her long, curly blonde hair and dark green eyes.

Karen boldly tried to walk forward without Charlie's help, "He told me that I was beautiful!"

"He's only speaking the truth." She helped her stumble into the passenger seat and shut the door. Wen was drilling holes into her as she merely walked by him without a glance. He looked down at the scribbled writing in his hand and realized something.

"What's your name?" Wen asked, feeling extremely corny.

She had already gotten to her door and almost sat down before she turned to him, "Lyla."

It was that look that she gave him that encouraged Wen to actually call her, and before he knew it, he had fallen for her. The rest of the group seemed to really like her—or at least that is what they had claimed—and even tried to set up Charlie and Karen a few times. After a couple of successful dates, Wen asked him why he didn't want to further pursue her.

He shrugged his shoulders, "She's just not my type."

Wen gave him an exasperated expression, "What, pretty, nice girl who likes you isn't your type?"

When Charlie simply shrugged again Wen couldn't help himself, "What I really think you mean to say is that she isn't Mo."

Then Charlie would punch him.

* * *

"Come on you guys! We don't have that long before we start out tour, and it's kind of a big fucking deal!" Stella yelled at her band mates, who were being excruciatingly frustrating. They had rented out an old warehouse so they wouldn't be evicted from any of their places of living, especially because they usually practiced late into the night.

"Oh come on Stell, we're exhausted!" Charlie complained as he stood up to stretch out his legs, "we have been practicing for hours!"

Stella turned to the downtrodden drummer, "Well I guess that's still not good enough! We were totally flat on that last song."

"Wouldn't you rather have quality over quantity?" Asked Wen as he began to shake out his hands and crack his knuckles.

"Yeah Stella, I might have to concede too; I'm about to pass out." Mo stated as she unstrapped her bass.

"All of you guys are hopeless!" Stella yelled as she stopped her feet, completely throwing a juvenile tantrum.

"I would probably have to second that." A voice said from the door.

The group looked over in surprise to find that it was just Lyla, "Well at least someone agrees with me." Stella mocked.

Wen smiled and began to put away his music. He walked over to her after he was done and kissed her. For Stella, it was a bit strange seeing him kiss another girl—granted he never saw him and Olivia kiss and she already knew Lyla—but there still seemed like there was something wrong about it. She glanced over at Olivia who had been rather quite that whole night, safe for her singing. The singer was just looking down at her shoes, nothing out of the ordinary for her.

Wen had already told Stella that Olivia wanted no romantic relationship with him, and she then accused him of rebounding, but he quickly discounted the claim by saying that he still deeply cared for Lyla. After a while, she figured as long as he was happy, but she still could not shake the feeling of uneasiness every time she had to witness it.

"I don't know about all of you guys, but I might be at the early stages of starvation. Let's go get some food," stated Wen as he put his arm around Lyla and led her out the door. The rest of the band slowly followed in suit as Stella finished her complaining that no one cared about going on tour.

As Mo was about to leave with everyone else, she noticed that Olivia had been lagging. She stopped to talk to her, "You okay Liv?"

She looked up at her in surprise, "Huh? Oh yeah, I am fine. Just tired like everyone else is."

"Are you sure that's all?"

"What else would it be? Minus the food deprivation." Olivia joked as they too exited the building.

Mo pulled out the key and locked the door, "I was just checking."

Olivia genuinely smiled at her and nodded her head towards everyone else, "Come on, let's go get some dinner before Stella demands another impromptu session."

At the restaurant they had selected, Stella nearly had chocked on some water that she had been hastily drinking.

"You alright there buddy?" Charlie asked at her side, nudging her.

She coughed a couple of times before she spoke, "Yeah, I am fine, completely fine," she began to wipe off her mouth, "we just have to record another album before we go on tour."

Her last words were whispered, but everyone had still heard them. After being rendered speechless for a couple of moments, Wen spoke up, "Are you serious?"

She tried to look nonchalant as she went in for another sip of her beverage, "What? Our manager called and said that we needed something new."

Charlie raised a brow at her, "What's wrong with our old stuff?"

Stella scoffed at him, "Do you really think that any of us are in the same place as we were when we were teenagers? Mentally or musically? We need something more to offer to both our old and new fans. I think that it is a very wise choice."

Once everyone had taken in her words, all of them separately reacted to her sentiment.

"Do you really think that we could finish a whole album?" Mo asked what everyone was probably thinking.

"I think that we have done it in the past, so why not now?" Stella pointed out as their meals arrived from the waiter, "and our work ethic has only improved, right?"

There was this kind of agreement throughout the band.

"Well I also think that it is an excellent idea. I can't wait to hear what you guys have put together." Lyla said encouragingly while rubbing Wen's back.

Why was she agreeing with Stella so much tonight?

"I guess we should start putting some songs together Liv." Wen stated almost reluctantly to her as he tried to meet her gaze.

She was staring down at her food and sort of pushing it around with her fork; it took her a couple of seconds to look up at him, "Oh yeah, of course."

Mo still couldn't shake off the feeling that there was much more to Olivia's quiet disposition than anyone else had probably suspected as they finished their food.

* * *

Wen reluctantly tapped on his steering wheel with his fingers. Their album had to be recorded in less than a couple of weeks—which was a fairly short amount of time considering the loose schedules they used to hold—and their tour did not start long after that. They wanted their deadline to be a little less strict, but their manager insisted on not keeping their eager fans waiting any longer.

Olivia had pulled away a bit again. She had not spoken to any of the members in a week or so, and did not make any sort of effort to return the contact. Stella had told Wen that he had better check up on her before they have to take drastic measures.

He was probably the worst person in the world at this point. Instead of dropping his plans and aiding to their obviously downtrodden friend, he succumbed to Lyla's invitation to meet up with Karen and her new boyfriend. At the time, his mental line of reasoning was met with the thought that Olivia was not going to go anywhere, but he saw now that that was just about one of the douchiest notions ever. He would have to have a talk with Lyla later about his priorities, but first he made a mental note to figure out what they were.

Olivia was doing God knows what in her apartment and he just sat there. Wen was exaggerating, he was sure of it; it couldn't have been that bad, right? It was that thought that finally pulled him out of his vehicle and up to her door. He knocked a couple of times, but there was no answer. With a couple more, he was starting to worry and called her name. Still no answer.

Not actually thinking it would work, he tried the door knob and was surprisingly granted access. Well, that certainly was not that safe at nine o'clock at night. He locked the door behind him and was soon met with a passed out Olivia on the couch. Fear struck him before he was assured that she was still breathing, but what was even more perturbing were the vodka bottles that were strewn about the floor. He sighed in overwhelmed denial and draped a blanked over her. Wen picked up the bottles and threw them away; he also tidied up her kitchen and put away the food that she presumably got out for dinner.

Not really sure what to do next, he walked back to Olivia. He knelt down next to her and smelled the alcohol. Nearly wanting to cry, he was slowly starting to realize that she may have a problem. Sure, he had noticed that she had picked up the habit and thoroughly enjoyed it, but possibly drinking in the middle of the day by yourself posed a whole new issue.

He couldn't look at her anymore. His attention turned to her coffee table as he noticed that it looked like she had been working on some lyrics judging by the notebook and crumpled up pieces of paper. Wen wanted nothing more than to take a peek at what she had been working on.

It only took him a minute or so to break and grabbed the nearest crumple. Feeling a bit like he was reading her diary, he reassured himself by figuring that she wouldn't mind considering she had already essentially tossed it. Wen wasn't sure how good the quality would be if she wrote them while intoxicated.

His surprise was apparent on his face while he skimmed the first few lines on the top of the page.

"_If it makes you less sad, I will die by your hand  
Hope you find out what you are; already know what I am  
And if it makes you less sad, we'll start talking again  
You can tell me how vile I already know that I am…_"

His phone buzzed with a call before he could read the rest of it, but the initial shock almost gave him a heart attack. It was as if the caller on the other line _knew_ that he was violating Olivia's privacy. He shook his head and deciphered that the idea was not possible, and sighed with relieve that it was just Stella.

In order to not wake her, Wen made his way into her kitchen to take the call.

"Yes?" He whispered harshly without even realizing it.

"Why are you whispering?" Stella asked accusingly.

"I uh," he walked over briefly to quickly look at the still slumbering blonde, "Olivia is asleep, that's all."

There was a pause for a moment and it sounded as though she was trying to silence someone, "Oh, were you guys working on lyrics or _something_ and you tired her out?"

"I don't know what you are trying to insinuate, but…we really were just working." A lie. It was a flat out lie and he had no idea why he just said it.

"And she fell asleep on her own accord?" Her voice was away from the receiver again, "_Stop_ it Liam! I am on the _phone_!"

He couldn't really help himself, "And are you and Mr. Kanizsa engaging in some extracurricular activities yourselves?"

She struggled a bit, "Ugh, no. You know when someone asks you if you are ticklish or not, and it doesn't matter if you say yes or no?"

"But you are extremely ticklish." Wen stated flatly.

"I know and I freaking hate it," she rushed in between breaths, "listen, I have a murder I have to commit, so I will have to finish this conversation later."

"Alright. If you need help burying the body, just give me another call." He was thankful that Liam's playful actions had hindered her from the previous topic. He certainly did not want to lie anymore since he was already in a presumable mess.

"Thanks. Oh, and I expect a full report with progress in the lyrics when we see you guys tomorrow." She hung up the phone with a scream.

Well, fuck.

* * *

The next day, Wen knew that he had to have some semblance of a plan before he met up with the band. While pacing around his living room, actually thinking of solutions to self inflicted problems was much more difficult than Wen had once thought. Charlie called him before he could figure out something.

"Hey man, what's up?" Wen asked, trying to cover up the franticness in his voice.

"Hey, I just wanted you to know that we are all meeting up at Olivia's place since you guys apparently made so much progress last night."

Wen almost died, "Oh yes, of course. Progress."

"We'll probably be there in a couple of hours."

"Right." Wen said too quickly.

"Alright…hey, are you alright?"

Wen nodded vigorously before realizing Charlie could not see him. He took a deep breath, "Yeah, I am fine. I am just pretty brain dead from all of the music writing from last night." Another. Fucking. Lie.

There was a pause before Charlie answered him, "Well, alright Wen. I will see you in a little bit I guess."

"Okay, bye." Wen said rashly and ended the call. What the hell was he supposed to do? Before thoughts were even being processed in his head properly, he threw on some clothes stumbled into his car, gauges set for Olivia's house to at least worn her of what he had done.

Why was he lying to his closest friends? It really did not make any sense once Wen thought about it. Maybe he did not want to feel like a failure because this was apparently the only thing he could do. He was given one task and he couldn't even execute it right.

Maybe he wanted to cover up for Olivia and her drinking. The thought made him sick.

He banged on her door and felt like he almost was about to break it down before she finally answered. She looked tired and confused, still clad in her sweatpants.

"What do you want Wen?" She asked while she rubbed one of her eyes that was definitely still heavy with sleep.

He wondered if she was having a major hangover. She could have perhaps started to become more acclimated to it, "We have a problem."

"Why? Can't it wait till later?"

Wen paused, "Well, no. Not exactly. Didn't Stella call you?"

"Possibly, I haven't checked my phone."

He brushed past her without being invited in, "Well the group is coming over in like an hour and forty-five minutes to see what music we have put together."

Olivia walked over and sat down on her couch, pulling a blanket over herself, "Didn't you tell them that we haven't done anything yet?"

"Uh…"

She looked at him accusingly, "Wen, why would you tell them we had something when we clearly have nothing?"

"I…I just thought that they would have expected something from us by now, and I didn't want to disappoint them."

"Well I am sure that they would understand if we told them that we weren't ready yet."

He didn't want to tell her about last night. About the state that he found her in: alone, drunk, and thoroughly passed out. He also didn't want to tell her that he read some of her private lyrics, and the phone call he had with Stella, telling her of all the "progress" that they had been making.

Olivia looked over at him while he was thinking, and clearly ignored her question, "Why haven't you called to start working? What have you been doing?"

She didn't say it, but she could have. She could have brought up the obvious elephant in the room: Lyla.

He got up and nervously started pacing, feeling ashamed of himself on so many levels, "You could have called me too."

Wen regretted saying it, but she huffed anyway. She looked around the room and it was like she was coming to her own conclusion, "You came over here last night, didn't you?"

Wen said nothing as she continued, "You came over and put the blanket on me, cleaned up my kitchen and the…"

She suddenly appeared to be very out of breath as another much larger elephant than Lyla entered the room, threatening to squish her: the alcohol bottles.

They looked at each other for a moment. It was a strange moment where neither said anything. So, they were both ashamed of something. Wen, with his awful prioritizing, and Olivia, with her clear habit that was becoming much more than just a social activity.

They had both let their band down, and in that moment it was like they knew what they had to do. Olivia spoke first, "Look Wen, I have been writing some lyrics that we might be able to pull together, but I don't know…they are really…different. I don't know if you guys will like them."

She hugged herself and sighed. Wen wanted to confess to her that he had read some of them last night. Maybe she had figured that he already had.

"What did you think of them?"

She stared in his eyes hard. Wen could practically read her thoughts that were saying, 'Did you really not read any of them while they were just lying out on the table for you?'

He sighed and decided not to be a coward and deny it, "Honestly?"

She sat up a little straighter, "Yes. I want your honest and harsh opinion."

Wen looked at the table and spotted the page he had read last night. He picked it up and finished reading the rest of the words.

"_I'll grow old, start acting my age  
It'll be a brand new day in a life that you hate  
A crown of gold, a heart that's harder than stone  
And it hurts to hold on, but it's missed when it's gone_

_Call me a safe bet, I'm betting I'm not_  
_I'm glad that you can forgive, only hoping as time goes, you can forget_."

"Olivia, these are beautiful." He said to her with sincerity. They were different and sad, there was no denying that, but there was something about them that really intrigued Wen, and he wanted to hear more.

"You don't think they're too…dark? I have been trying to write stuff more similar to our old music, but this is all that is coming out right now."

"No. Frankly, these are some of the most honest lyrics I have ever seen you write."

Olivia smiled at his words and looked extremely relieved. Hopefully the rest of the group would understand.

"I brought my keyboard. Let's try to get some music together so we have something to show them."

They worked until everyone else joined them, excited with the prospect of hearing new music they could all put together. Wen hadn't really played anything that intricate yet due to the time crunch, but he figured that he could tell them that they were focusing on the lyrics more than anything else.

Before they played for them, there was a moment where it looked like Olivia wanted to warn them of the drastically different sound, but she then obviously thought against it and smiled, urging Wen to start playing. Throughout the rough beginning of the song, it was really hard to gauge the other members of the band's reaction. Wen started to feel nervous and thought maybe that they hated it. Sure, it wasn't the same, but isn't growing in your own music mean trying to expand your horizon?

When the song was over, no one said anything. After a minute, Olivia looked uncomfortable and began to explain herself, "I mean, that was obliviously not the whole song. Just a rough skeleton…it was just hard to get through those lyrics. And I know it sounds really different from our old stuff—"

"Olivia, shut up," Stella interrupted as the blonde instantly shut her mouth. The band stilled as Mo, Charlie, and Stella exchanged glances, "you guys, that was insane."

Wen adopted a befuddled expression and Stella picked up on it, "Insane as in a good way. That almost brought me to tears."

"Yeah, me too." Mo agreed. Charlie did too soon after.

"You mean, you don't mind?"

"Why would we mind? Who is to say we can't put something like that out there?" Mo stated earnestly.

They all spoke together and thought it would be best if they added this new kind of sound to their musical palette. They would of course, try not to deter too far away from their roots, but they were all excited to also put a more mature perspective out there.

As they worked late into the night, trying to collaborate together as they all preformed on their rough instruments, they actually shot out a lot more songs than they thought they would.

Not surprisingly, neither Wen nor Olivia discussed what had happened earlier as everyone else left and he hugged her in his own goodbye.

* * *

Their manager was pretty pleased with their eagerness to practice and record in the studio. It really started to feel nostalgic as the band began to pull a few all nighters filled with Top Ramen, pizza, coffee, and many blistered fingers. None of them could really describe the joy they felt in the whole situation as they felt like they were truly finding their own sound again, with a mix of their old and new music compiled together. One night, as they were practically done with finishing the album, they decided to celebrate their success at a restaurant. They all ordered a couple of drinks from the bar, and Olivia had not gone overboard with the drinking. It was Wen's turn to get the latest and final round before they had called it a night to get some much needed rest. Olivia approached him before he could order the drinks.

She wordlessly sat in the bar stool next to him and just stared in front of her. Of course Wen was confused and asked her what was wrong. She responded with some sort of exasperation and sighed stating that she did not know.

"Liv, just tell me what's wrong. I can tell that you're upset."

She sighed again and placed her face in her hands. He knew that he would get it out of her eventually.

The blonde finally spoke up after a minute or so, Wen smiled in her defeat, "It's just…do you really think that we can do this?"

It was a vague question, but Wen knew exactly what she meant. Could they really do this? Go out there again and play like they used to? Would people like them? Would people hate them?

She continued without him answering, "Do you think that_ I_ can do this? Like physically?"

Wen knew that it may have come to this again, her insecurities shining through. It was like they were in the girl's bathroom at the Halloween Bash all over again. It was a silly question, "Hey," he said, making her meet his gaze by directing her face his hand before he dropped it, "of _course _you can."

She looked liked she might have believed him for a second before doubt set in again, "Do you really think so? What if everyone hates it?"

He scoffed, "That will be impossible."

"Why?"

"Because you wrote it."

Olivia started to turn red because she never gave herself enough credit.

"I still believe in you, remember?" He was saying it to her through a bathroom stall again, or at least, that is what it felt like.

He pulled her into a half hug by placing his arm around her.

"I guess I just don't hear that often enough. I have never been able to believe in myself." She stated, barely audible. Wen found this to be extremely sad and realized that she was opening up apart of herself that she hadn't in a long time. She could have gone to anyone else with these concerns, but she chose to seek him out. The notion made him almost made him smile if he wasn't already depressed enough, thinking about her broken home. He knew that putting themselves out there was going to be an extremely frightening thing, especially since he knew how fickle a crowd could be. There was also the aspect of manipulation and temptation into a whole new world since they were older now. He just hoped that no one would start to go down the slippery slope of drugs or…alcohol. Wen looked to Olivia.

He kissed the top of her head and said equally as quiet, "I know."

They sat there like that for a few more moments before he spoke up again, "And besides," he began as he pulled away from her, "if everyone hates it, at least you have the career in performing by singing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep.' I am sure that we could get Mikey Nichol's to come and see it."

She punched him in the arm.

* * *

_Sorry for another filler chapter there guys. I know it's a lot of set up before they go on their tour, but I promise that is coming up next! Well, when I get around to it._

_Oh, if you thought that I actually wrote those lyrics that Olivia had, I am truly flattered. However, I unfortunately did not. That was again—no surprise here—Brand New with "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot." I really liked it for Olivia and her character right now, if you have a listen for the whole song._

_Alright guys, I will bid you all a sad goodbye for know. A special thanks to everyone who added this to their favorites and who are now following. And of course thank all of you for your encouragement in your reviews like Readingcutie428, IAmTheAngelWithBrokenWings, and SimplySavannah123.  
_

_Thank you for reading!_


	7. The First Time That I Felt Connected

_Hey..._

_Well, I was gone for a while, wasn't I? I am really sorry guys. I don't really know what to say besides thank you for not giving up on me!_

_I really don't want to waste any of your time with my ancillary ANs…so_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. What a surprise, huh?_

* * *

Wen began to remember what he loved about performing so much. It was the rush of the crowd; the craze that a song would start. Their album at first seemed to be tanking, but once it was picked up, people had been describing it as a more "mature" version of Lemonade Mouth, which made sense considering their most loyal fans had grown up along with them.

They would see the way a crowd would react to their art, and what made Wen feel satisfied was the fact that the band was the reason for their happiness. In a way, they were bringing people together for this short amount of time; a beautiful union in which the crowd and their music could unite in a crescendo of bliss, where temporary or underlying problems could just fall away. They were all experiencing it together, and it was wonderful.

Until reality set in and they had to be back in the real world of the open road and hotel after hotel. It wasn't so bad…most of the time. They had started on the East coast, and would end in Los Angeles.

It was the same story for a while. Tour bus. Hotel. Too tired to care or move after show. After some time, maybe they had grown used to the long nights, and began to resemble human life- forms again.

Wen was thankful that Lyla had been so understanding of the tour. He would sometimes fly her out if they were in a stationary place for a few days. She didn't seem to get too upset when the two of them would go around together and he would get stopped for an autograph, sometimes people would call her Olivia and she would gracefully correct them. Wen was always embarrassed.

He was always so amazed and admiring of Stella's tenacity after a successful show. She would usually do something to the degree of raising her arms in the air and saying, "Woo hoo! We did it guys!"

Wen smiles and comments, "Yes, Stella, like we do every day."

She shrugs, "Still doesn't make it not true."

Where was Olivia these days? Wen was not sure most of the time after whichever gig they had just finished. Her drinking was still on the borderline of excessiveness. He had made it a point to try and follow her or greatly emphasize to her not to do anything stupid at the bars or wherever she would find herself, but he did realize that she was an adult. However, this did not stop him from frequently rounding up the whole gang to come out when everyone was up for it. He also did not want to raise suspicion on any level, whether it be the media's prying eyes or Lyla's. Olivia did not deserve it either.

She didn't deserve anything that she had put herself through.

Wen would often contemplate why Olivia would put herself through a self-inflicted ringer. He knew she was hurting, but she also had to know that she wasn't in this alone. Not comparing himself to her, he had his fare share of horrors; they all had. One day, he was hoping, one day it would get through to her.

Maybe she could move on from the mess, from the hell she had been through and that was laid out for her, so the bottle didn't have to be her only solution.

* * *

It had been an up and down evening, but for the most part rather successful for the band. Their show had ended in applause, and in the end, that's all that really mattered. They were somewhere in Florida during the unforgiving months of the summer. To say that it was stiffing and humid would be a huge understatement. The hot air was practically tangible.

Everyone had been complaining about how hungry all of them were for quite some time, so Charlie and Mo were sent on a snack run to the nearest convenience store, although much to their chagrin, as it was their turn. The thick July air had been wearing away at them, and nothing sounded better at the time than drowning in calories.

Charlie had been arguing with Mo on the way back from the nearest store. Mo was fuming.

"Oh my God Charlie; I can _so _do impulsive and fun!"

Charlie practically dropped the many bags of chips he had been holding in amusement, "Oh right, the great Mohini Banjaree. If there is one thing she is known for, it is her excellent trait of spontaneity!"

She stopped in her place and huffed. They had just entered the pool to cut across to their room, "I—ugh!" She placed her groceries on the ground and spun to face him, "I know how to let loose!"

Charlie didn't know where to start laughing, whether it was her choice of words or her clear mistake over her own judge of character. He had to stop and sit on the nearest lounge chair before he started in hysterics, "If there is one person who has had her entire life planned out and has been labeling her lunch items since she could write, it is you."

She crossed her arms and glared at him mercilessly, "You don't believe me."

He stood up to stand in front of her, "Don't believe you?! You're the one who always can't wait to schedule all of your upcoming tests and essays as soon as you get your syllabus into your phone."

"So what if I'm organized."

"You stepped way past organization a long time ago."

She was so angry at his words because she hated to admit that they had some truth to them. There was no response as it looked like he was waiting for one. His expression changed to playful as he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Mo had no idea what to do to prove him wrong.

Subsequently, for some reason, before her arms could catch up with her brain, she found herself pushing the drummer into the pool without warning.

It took him a few seconds to rise to the surface; his languid motions were obviously due to his shock. She assumed that he would be angry, but instead of immediately seeking out vengeance, he simply pulled himself out of the pool and faced her once more.

"Touché, Banjaree, touché," he said in a surprisingly even voice while ran his fingers through his hair to expel out the excess moisture, "though I must warn you, you may be no longer living in a few moments."

His lackluster way of approaching his words had rendered her confused and motionless for a few moments before they sunk in properly, and much to her dismay, she let out one of the feminine screams of her life as she clumsily tried to run away and was successful for a few steps until he grabbed her from behind. Though, instead of sitting her down and torturing her until she apologized like she thought he would do, he threw her over his shoulder and jumped them both into the pool.

She was gasping for air before she could even comprehend his mischievous grin, "Charles! How could you—"

Mo stopped herself before she realized what she was doing, "I mean…this is cool. I like this…this impromptu swimming session.

He said nothing. Only smiling, which was rare for him not to have the last word, but she knew all too well that she had started it in the first place.

Everything was still for a few moments before their chuckles had died down.

The world was quiet as they stared one another down in what could only be described as rushed and passionate. It was strange how there was this understanding before they both lunged at each other. The water had come up and whacked them in their faces at the sudden movements. The kiss felt desperate and contrived at first, as if the other one was going to disappear, but then, as Mo's hands reached for his hair and he wrapped his hands so tightly around her middle, nothing had ever felt so natural. It was like the first time either of them really felt connected to anything.

As their lateness struck a chord in their band mates' concerns, Stella so gracefully asked the question they were all wondering as Charlie and Mo showed up sopping wet at the door, "What the fuck happened to you two?"

They tried not to blush and did not dare look at each other as Charlie stated that the rest of them were better off not knowing.

And later that night as the two of them had settled in Charlie's room, she with her head somewhere between his chest and his stomach while his fingers ran through her hair, staring up at the ceiling, he thought of a broken sentence he never verbalized, "You know, I never said it was a bad thing that you were so organized."

She smiled in a way that she felt was stupidly and thought that she would let him have the last word after all, just this once.

* * *

Wen really didn't talk to the security guards and tech guys that much after the show; rather, they didn't talk to _him_. They seemed to avoid him like the plague. He tried having a nice wave or hello here and there, but they always treated him like he didn't exist. It was like, the show was over, and there is no reason to kiss ass anymore. Until one day, Wen was walking by a guard whose name be believed to be Ricky or something like that.

"Hey, kid."

It was a harsh whisper for some reason; there was no one around, "Yeah?"

Ricky did a once over in the hallway they were in before he spoke again, "You uh, look like the kind of person who needs to relax."

Wen furrowed his eyebrows in surprise and then sighed at his realization. No wonder Ricky was looking the place over for intruders, "Oh! Well, I am very flattered, but I am sorry that I am straight."

Ricky looked like someone had murdered his mother right in front of him, "Is your ego really that big you idiot? No! I was talking about some reifer!"

Wen was shell-shocked for a few moments, not really knowing how to respond. He thought about it for a spell, and couldn't lie to himself. A joint sounded really amazing at the moment, "Well, how much?"

"I could give you about an eighth for about forty bucks right now."

"Could I see it?"

Ricky pulled a small bag out of his pants pocket and tossed it to the redhead. Honestly, Wen did not know that much about weed. He hadn't smoked since high school. However, he did know that a well manicured bag for forty dollars wasn't that bad, or at least the weed he used to smoke.

"Alright." Wen said as he reached for his wallet.

Ricky looked very pleased indeed, "You won't be disappointed. This is good shit."

They exchanged their drug deal, and Wen was a little surprised with himself for being so impetuous. Olivia just rounded the corner.

"Hey, where have you been? We have been looking all over for you! We are heading off."

Ricky was facing away from them and acted like he hadn't even known Wen. He looked at the blonde. He felt ashamed; Olivia was probably one of the last people he wanted to know. It was like he was sixteen all over again. Now that they were adults, he figured that it really wasn't that big of a deal, but that didn't stop that insecure teenager from coming out.

"Oh, sorry."

She smiled at him and insisted she joined him. Wen looked back at Ricky, but he wasn't even there anymore.

Once they had reached their hotel, he knew exactly who to share his recent purchase with.

He and Stella would used to smoke together. Whenever they used to sneak around the band, they would sometimes find the most random items to smoke with. A soda can, an apple, or even an old liter of water. Wen had no idea why, but Stella came to him when she came across her first bag. They had spent the whole night in his back yard while he was panicking because he for some reason he thought that his father and Olivia had telepathically known what they were doing.

Stella gave him that knowing smile when he revealed his eighth to her.

They decided to make a pact of honesty when they began their session on the balcony of Wen's room. They were to reveal anything that they felt was pending on their minds as of late.

When Wen and Stella began to smoke together, Stella reveals why she was so adamant about getting them into that interview with Moxie. She was afraid that they would fall apart again. She was afraid that when it was all said and done, she would just end up alone again. So, she thought of an offer that they couldn't refuse.

Wen in no way wanted to break Olivia's confidence, so instead of speaking of her potential alcoholism, he spoke of his own insecurities. He never felt good enough for anybody. This was something that had been ingrained into to him at a very young age. That is why when Sydney starting dating his father, he was afraid he was moving on to the next best thing. This tour had recently begun to rip a new hole in his anxiety. He was surprised that anyone saw any worth in him. Stella looked like she was hiding a tear and told him he was preaching to the choir.

They contemplated telling the rest of the group of their drug use. Stella teased him and told him that he would never be able to tell goody two shoes Olivia. He brushed her off and asked if Liam would mind if she was smoking. She shrugged her shoulders and took another hit. They were silent for a few moments.

"Oh my God," Stella stated bluntly, breaking Wen from his stupor of trying to remember what sleep felt like.

It took him a couple of seconds to respond, "What?"

She made a kind of cringing face, "I love him."

Before Wen could respond with some kind of congratulations, she spoke again, "I love him and it's disgusting."

"Why?"

"Because I never thought that I would feel this way. All lovey dovey and shit. Oh my God, but I do. Ewww! I need to tell him."

"I don't think he would want to find out this way."

"Why?"

"Because you're high. You don't want to be high dialing him."

"Shit, you're right. But I do need to call him and tell him that I am stoned."

She attempted to grab the lighter and use that as her phone. It took her a few moments to realize her mistake and found her phone on the table. Again, she was using it mistakenly upside down, "Oh God dammit," she stated as she turned it right side up. Surprisingly, she dialed the number that she knew by heart.

Wen was really starting to feel it. The world kind of stopped. He suddenly remembered what sleep did in fact feel like and he was so excited that he nearly wanted to jump up and down. Stella had to stop him before he killed himself via falling off the balcony.

"What?...What?" Stella giggled into the phone, "what? Oh! I just saved Wendell's life! I think he was trying to kill himself or something."

Wen figured that she was on the phone with Liam, "No! I just remembered what sleep felt like!"

Stella looked over at him abruptly and smiled wide, "Oh my goodness! That's wonderful!"

"I nearly almost forgot." Wen stated proudly as he shook his hands in front of his face. He then realized how stupid his hands looked. They had so many stupid freckles on them; he wished that he could just cut them all off and give them to the freckle police. Stella's voice was still somewhere off into the distance, and he had to fight off the sounds of "Determinate" with his stupid freckle hands in order to rejoin the conversation.

"Oh, nothing. Wen just remembered what sleeping was…no not to sleep _with_ someone," she looked to Wen, "right?"

His eyelids were heavy. They were far too heavy for normal eyelids. What? "What?"

"Right Wen?"

He pointed at her enthusiastically, "Yes!"

She turned her attention back to the phone, "Yes!"

"Hey, do you feel heavy right now? Like is there some kind of glue holding us down or something?" Wen asked as he was amazed that he hadn't sunken down to the floor.

"What did you say Wen?"

He was too busy concentrating on blinking his eyelids that were clearly being held down by anvils.

"Look, I think I need to go Liam. I think Wen forgot how to use his eyes…of course…you're beautiful too! Bye!" She hung up her phone and looked to Wen, "I told Liam our secret, so I think that we will be safe from now on."

"Good." Wen said in-between blinks. Why did he even have eyes? Olivia had such pretty brown eyes. He should just go tell her that so she won't waste them on someone who will just eat all of the chocolate out of them, "Do you think Olivia should be giving all of her chocolate away?"

Stella also looked like she was beginning to contemplate her own blinking patterns, "What bro? I don't think Olivia's chocolate is any of your concern."

"I am just afraid that someone is going to eat all of the chocolate out of her eyes, and she will lose all of her spectacular and beautiful sparkles."

Stella shook her head so fast, Wen thought it was going to fall off, "Dude, you are thinking about girls way too much! You know what you need? Some muchies!"

Stella was grabbing for him to come with her as he barely noticed and went along with it, "Do you think someone has already eaten all of Lyla's chocolate? I mean, that is ridiculous; she doesn't have chocolate…it's more like grass…or spinach! Ah! Do you think if you eat someone's eye food, you can steal their soul?"

"Shut _up_!" She yelled as they came into the kitchen and giggled at the fridge for thirty minutes. It was a miracle that no one else was awake to see the refrigerator monster.

* * *

Where the hell was everybody? Wen had been wondering around backstage for what he nearly felt like was an hour. No one was in their dressing rooms, and he really wanted to leave. He walked by Mo's room again and knocked on the door. There was a bit of rustling around going on inside before a disheveled Mo answered the door. She looked like she was out of breath.

"Yes Wen?"

Wen shook off the weird feeling he got, "Uh, do you know where anyone is? Shouldn't we be leaving soon?"

She turned around and checked the clock in her room, "Yeah, I guess it's about that time that we leave."

There was a pause before Wen responded. She looked annoyed and like he was wasting her time, "Well, I will go and try to find everybody else then."

"Okay." Mo stated and shut the door in his face. That was strange. He had never really seen Mo act like that before.

Charlie wasn't in his room. He caught Stella coming out of the bathroom and sighed in relief. Unfortunately, she stated that she would be waiting in her room when they were ready to go. Why was it his job to have to find everyone? Olivia hadn't been in her room before, but he just thought that he would try again. There was no answer, but he heard noises from inside. He let himself in.

"Olivia?" He questioned as he closed the door behind him.

It looked as though she had fallen asleep on the small couch that was there. He didn't want to wake her, but they did have to get going. It took a little bit of shaking, but she eventually opened her eyes. She looked shocked and sat up almost instantly.

"What time is it?"

Wen was surprised at her reaction, "Oh, I don't know, but I think everyone wants to leave…although Charlie is still missing."

She hunched over with her arms crossed over her stomach, "I feel like I am going to be sick."

Wen sat down next to her, perturbed, "Why? I thought that you had gotten over this stage fright thing a long time ago."

"I don't know why! I have been feeling like this all night; I just didn't want to have to cancel the show or anything."

Wen sighed, "You are ridiculous."

"Thanks."

"Do you need anything?" He asked, feeling her forehead.

"No, I just want to go back to the hotel. Go find Charlie. I'll be fine."

He stood up, "Yes ma'am."

"Shut up." She demanded as she lied back down on the couch.

Wen went searching around for Charlie with more urgency this time. Where could he of gone? It is not like he could be a lot of places unless he decided to leave without telling anybody. Wen rounded a corner only to quite literally run into someone. His face collided with the person's chest. He was launched back a couple of steps. While rubbing his nose a bit and getting back his sense of equilibrium, Wen looked up at the figure and saw that it was just Ricky.

"Oh, sorry man. I didn't see you there." Wen stated as he went to maneuver around the security guard.

Ricky stopped him by putting a hand to his shoulder, "Wait just a second there," Wen ceased his attempts to escape while Ricky threateningly crossed his arms over his chest, "how did you like the stuff?"

"Oh, uh, it was good shit, like you said. I really needed that, thanks." He tried to move away before Ricky stopped him again. It was no use.

"So, if you liked it, why don't you buy more?"

Wen raised his eyebrows and shook his head, "Hey, can we talk about this later—"

"Or better yet, I think that you should perhaps buy some heavier shit."

It honestly took Wen a few seconds to compose himself before he could respond, "I really don't do any other kinds of drugs. I have just stuck to weed; I really have no desire to anything else."

"No, I really think that you need some rock, or maybe even some heroin."

"I appreciate the offer, but I really don't—"

Whatever response Wen had was cut short by a swift punch in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of him and he was at the mercy of Ricky's demands, "Now let this be a lesson to you. I am sick and tired to catering to all of you prissy rock stars. You think you have it so hard? I have got a family to feed, buddy, so if you think that you can pass me off like every other patronizing little fuck, then you have got another thing coming to you."

Who the hell hired this drug dealing security guard? One would think there would be a better background check. Wen was leaning back on the nearest wall, trying to steady his breathing. Ricky was still standing over him menacingly and walked away while calling him pathetic. Well, he certainly felt pathetic. What was he thinking, getting mixed up with a guy like that? Every single other drug dealer that he and Stella had dealt with was just some gigging stoner that was probably just trying to pay off his college tuition. Wen never thought that he would ever purchase from such a menacing guy like Ricky. If he tried to get him fired, would Ricky come after his family? He couldn't take the chance.

The weed was excellent, but it wasn't worth this. Wen always thought marijuana being a gateway drug to him was bullshit. He really never felt the need to do anything more severe, nor did Stella. However, the next time Ricky would come bothering him again, Wen probably figured that he would either have to buy more serious drugs, or _a lot_ of weed.

Well, given the current events, a joint sounded pretty fabulous at the moment.

He didn't tell anyone of his scuffle with Ricky.

* * *

Later that night, Wen went to check on how Olivia was feeling. Everyone else had already retired to their rooms, but he had this inkling that she needed to be looked at once again. He knocked on her door quietly, but then figured he should just go in so she wouldn't have to get up. She was asleep with the TV on. He shook his head in a weird fatherly way for some reason, and turned the TV off.

While making his way to leave, something stopped him. He turned around and shut the door again, walking over to her side again. Not really wanting to seem creepy, Wen sat down next to her and raised the covers up to her neck. He would stay just a little longer, just to see if she was alright. Lying down next to her wouldn't be a crime.

Wen jolted awake at what he guessed was a few hours later. He looked over at the digital clock; 3:34 am. He had been here entirely too long and needed to leave before she realized that he was in there.

Swinging his legs around without making a sound was difficult enough, but the real challenge was opening the door without it creaking. How come it was always so much louder when trying to be discreet? He mentally cursed when he heard Olivia stir.

That was it; he was caught, "Wen?"

Well what was he supposed to do? Take the low road and pretend that she was dreaming? He certainly wasn't that pathetic, "Oh, hey," he turned around to face her, "I was checking to see that you were feeling okay…so now that I see that you are I'm going to…" He was turning around and heading out the door with what he knew weren't cohesive words anymore.

Her words were barely audible, "Please stay."

The tiny sentence hit him like a train. It took him no time at all to decide what to do. He was at her side within a few seconds. Olivia was facing him when he lay down again. Her eyes were droopy and there was a small smile on her lips. Wen wasn't really sure if he should say anything.

"So are you feeling better?"

Her eyes were already closed again, "Yes."

The words were full of sleep, "Are you sure?" He asked cheekily.

"No." He could tell she was trying not to smile. The moonlight coming in from the window highlighted her features.

"_No_?"

She then said something to the degree of him shutting his mouth, but Wen was pretty sure that she had succumbed to her slumber. He was smiling for a time afterwards before he fell asleep himself.

* * *

_Look, I know that this was rather sort, and I really really wanted to make this longer—especially since there was such a long wait—but I liked the flow and start and end so much that I felt like I shouldn't mess with it._

_Please continue to bear with me guys! I swear that I won't give up on this story…it might just take a little while sometimes._

_Thank you to all of you who added this to your favorites and are now following! Your encouragement really helps so thank you __Wenlivia3, musicforeverluver, and damaris (it's alright that it was in Spanish; I figured it out!) for reviewing!_

_Please review at your leisure, and thank you for reading!_


End file.
